


One Little Moment of Annoyance

by ItsBioChemistry



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-07
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-08-29 17:12:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8498353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsBioChemistry/pseuds/ItsBioChemistry
Summary: Whilst rewatching the episode Maveth, it occurred to me that the only reason Fitz ever discovered that Will was really Hive was because Fitz was extraordinarily selfless in this episode. This is an Alterntive Universe where Fitz becomes annoyed just for a moment and never saw Will's rotten leg, putting SHIELD in far more danger than it would ever have been in. This is how I imagine thing would have transpired.





	1. Maveth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One little blip in one man's patience sends a whole new chain of events crashing down on the SHIELD team.
> 
> *Edit*  
> I absolutely hated the interactions between Fitzsimmons in my first draft of this chapter to the extent I've had to rewrite it. I think it feels a little more natural between them now. I also felt like something needed to be seen between Will and Jemma so I've added in a tiny little scene for them. I'm still not happy with it but it certainly feels more fluid now.

*Fitz*  
Fitz looked out across the horizon of Maveth barely believing what he was seeing. He had of course known for years that the human race was not alone in the universe but seeing it first hand was still a shock.

“Jemma never told me there was an ancient civilisation here,” he said to Will who continued to limp ahead as quickly as he was able.

“She never saw it,” he replied to Fitz over his shoulder, “We’re still in the no fly zone. The portal is just over the next ridge”

Fitz quickly grabbed a couple of pictures on his phone, he knew Simmons would never forgive him if he didn’t. He jogged to catch up with Will, wondering if Jemma would even want to see his pictures once he got Will back to her. As he caught up to the man himself, Will stumbled and fell over his bad leg, his body crashing into the sand. Fitz’s patients ran dry and annoyance got the better of him.

“If you want to get back to the portal you need to stay on your bloody feet!” he snarled pulling Will up by the shoulder of his shirt. Fitz felt a pang of guilt for snapping at Will, he had saved Jemma’s life after all. “Sorry,” he murmured, “I shouldn’t have….but we really do need to keep moving.”

“Yes, Sir,” Will replied, a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice.

They walked the next few minutes in complete silence, both men lost in their own thoughts of what would come next. Fitz was feeling a mix of emotions about getting back to Jemma, both excitement and fear that was creating a knot in the pit of his stomach.

“Fitz!” the shout broke the deafening silence. Fitz wheeled round to see Coulson dragging Ward along, who appeared to be handcuffed.

Ward took the opportunity of Coulson being momentarily distracted. He reared up and head-butted Coulson as hard as he could, knocking him to the floor. He pinned Coulson down with his knee across his throat, starving him of oxygen. Coulson struggled, kicking out his legs but was unable to get Ward off him.

“The portal,” Will shouted to Fitz.

“I’m not going without him,” Fitz bellowed back. He threw his pack off his shoulder and searched desperately for a weapon. Quickly he pulled out a flare gun and aimed it at Ward before pulling the trigger. The flare met it’s target, hitting Ward square in his muscular chest. The heat of the flare was enough to ignite Ward’s combat shirt. Ward cried out in pain and shock, throwing himself onto the floor and rolling, but the fire continued to spread across his torso. Fitz charged back to Coulson, closely followed by Will and helped Coulson to his feet.

“We have to go now, sir,” Fitz shouted at the director.

Coulson looked back at Ward, “But we need to make sure,” he rasped out of his damaged throat.

“He’s dead,” Will growled, “If not now he will be in a minute.”

Fitz and Will together dragged Coulson to the portal, all jumping through it together. As they fell onto the cold stone floor, Mack let out a cheer. Fitz felt Mack’s almighty hand pull him to his feet and shove him into a SHIELD containment module, closely followed by Coulson and Will. Lastly Mack threw himself, carrying a weakened Daisy. The module door shut and they were launched into the air towards The Bus.

“What’s happening?” Fitz shouted, but his voice was lost in the massive explosion below them. Fitz exhaled, understanding just how close they had come to being in that explosion.  
As they left the module into the hanger they were greeted warmly by the rest of the team. Fitz and Will sat together briefly before shaking hands and getting up. They walked out together to find Jemma looking lost and alone looking tearful.

“Jemma,” Fitz said quietly as if worried he might startle her.

Jemma wheeled round and caught site of them stood by side. Her face broke into an emotional smile. She charged forward and threw her arms around Fitz. Fitz steeled himself for the next moment. Jemma released him and then embraced Will, kissing him on the cheek.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” she whispered to him.

Fitz had tried to mentally prepare himself for this moment but it appeared no amount of preparation would have been enough. The knot in his stomach suddenly became a brick. He could not stand what he was seeing so he walked out of the hanger up towards his bunk on the upper deck and threw himself forward onto his bed, face buried in the pillow. Hunter was right, you don’t buy the ex a plane ticket, he thought bitterly to himself but then, at least Jemma was happy, that was after all the most important thing.

*Jemma*  
Jemma caught sight of Fitz practically running for the door from over Will’s shoulder. She concluded that he must be feeling ill from the sudden change of planet, she could remember all too clearly how strange that felt. Her thoughts quickly diverted back to Will who had spent fourteen years on that planet.

“Are you alright?” she asked releasing him from their hug, and squeezing the tops of his arms, “I can’t imagine how disorientated you are feeling, I could barely stand when I got back.”  
For a moment Will looked around as if deciding how he felt, “Lights are brighter and more painful than I remember and I feel like I’ve lost about a hundred pounds but otherwise I feel okay.”

“Good,” Jemma nodded smiling, she wondered why he was coping so well with the change, perhaps adrenaline was numbing his sense or he was in a state of shock, either way he was going to spending some time in medical whether he liked it or not, she did not let Fitz endanger himself just to let Will keel over and die from heart failure or some other stress induced condition. Fitz also needed checking on, he had about two minutes before Jemma was going to march after him and drag him onto one of the examination beds. Will seemed to sense her thoughts.

“If you want to go check on Fitz I won’t be offended,” he offered sincerely, “He literally just went to hell and back for you.”

“Hey, it was you he was saving,” Jemma said feeling slightly defensive, her guilt about Fitz was rising to a peak.  
Will made a noise halfway between a low chuckle and a grunt, a half smile appeared on his face, “If you think he acted for my benefit I might have underestimated how clever you really are. He’s a good man, I get what you see in him.”

A new pang of guilt hit Jemma, she knew what she had to do, it was clear from the moment she had seen Fitz and Will stood side by side, in truth she had known it since she and Fitz had shared a kiss in the lab, but Jemma was not good with break ups, she hated upsetting people.   
She took a deep breath, “Listen…”

“It’s fine, I get it,” Will interrupted before she could even begin to piece together a sentence.

“You do?” she said hoping he really did have a grasp or what she was going to tell him.

“You and Fitz, well he’s been a big part of your life for a long time, I have no intention of getting in the way of that and it looks like he was pretty willing to forgive you for whatever that was between us,”

“He’s not forgiven me,” Jemma said, causing Will to frown, “He doesn’t think I need forgiveness, he doesn’t think I did anything wrong.”

Will gave her the same half smile again, “I couldn’t compete against that if I wanted to. Jemma you will always, be special to me, you’ve given me a second chance at life. All I want is for you to be happy and I think we both know that isn’t with me.”

“I’m sorry,” Jemma said quietly.

“Don’t be. Besides if I want to find a nice woman there’s more than one on the planet now!”  
Jemma laughed and gave him a pretend slap on the arm but his words were like a breath of fresh air over her, Will would be just fine without her and she could finally get things started guilt free with Fitz. She pointed Will in the direction of medical and went in search of Fitz.

*Fitz*

He was too exhausted to move, too tired to really feel any form of emotion, he knew this was going to hurt soon, nothing could ever prepare him to see Jemma with another man, perhaps it was time to go and work in another SHIELD facility he thought idly knowing full well he didn’t mean it.

“Fitz?” Her gentle voice startled him, “Are you not feeling well?”

Taking his face out of the pillow he looked up to see Jemma stood in the doorway of his bunk.

“I’m fine,” he said, planting what he hoped was a convincing smile on his face, “Just been a long day, I needed a lie down.”

“Well let me take a look at you,” she said sitting on the end of his bed.

“What about Will? He hurt is leg quite badly.”

“He will be fine, no point me treating him when there is an actual medical doctor on this plane anyway. You all treat me like I’ve got my medical degree but I am just a biochemist,” Jemma complained.

Fitz couldn’t help but laugh, “I don’t think anybody would ever call you just a biochemist!”

“You flatter me but the point still stands, Will is better off being prodded and poked by Lincoln, whilst I know you hate all of that. I thought that you might at least do as you were told and let me check you over instead of being all stubborn and Scottish,” Jemma said raising her eye brows at him.

“If you continue throwing racist stereotypes around I’m going to have to report you to HR,” Fitz said pointing a threatening finger at her.

“You’re not an etnic minority I’m afraid Doctor Fitz and besides it’s true, I’ve heard you around doctors, “Gey tha’ needle away from me laddie, there’s nowt wrong wi’ me.”” Jemma had thrown out a terrible fake scottish accent in the deepest voice she could manage from her feminine throat.

Fitz held back his laughter and instead feigned outrage, “I do not sound like that!”  
Jemma laughed, “Sorry you’re right, you go much more high pitched and squeaky when you’re frightened.

“Jesus, I travel all the way to some god forsaken planet for you, twice and this is the thanks I get, my beloved home nation and my masculinity mocked. Well that’s it, I’m never going to another planet for you no matter how many boyfriends you leave there.”

Jemma laughed but Fitz detected a sadness in her eyes sending a pang of guilt soaring through him, he hadn’t meant it as a dig to Jemma at all, he understood how hard this had all been on her.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, “I’ve put you through too much lately. I have to say you have proven yourself to be the most patient and forgiving man I have ever have the honour of knowing.”

Fitz was touched by her words, he wanted to reach out to her, to hold her but the obstacle between them was far too big for that.

“You don’t owe me anything,” the words where some of the hardest he had ever said, “I understand completely how you feel about Will, I won’t get in your way.”

Jemma’s mouth opened slightly as if she was going to speak but couldn’t quite find the words, the silence was deafening in a way but finally Jemma found her voice,  
“Fitz,” she started quietly, “I love Will, you know that but the way I love Will is not a conventional kind of love. He was there for me when nobody else could have been, without him I would have died on that horrible place, alone and scared. But I’m home now. I will always care about Will and I will always be grateful, but Fitz you and I, it’s been ten years of skirting around this thing between us, convincing ourselves and everybody else that we’re only friends. Well I can promise you that nobody fell for it I and I really don’t want to fool myself anymore.”

Fitz tried desperately to absorb what she was saying to him but he could hardly believe what he was hearing, “So you mean….”

“I mean exactly what you think I mean,” Jemma said taking his hand, “It took us a long time to get here but I really want to give things with us a go.”  
Fitz knew it was the exhaustion setting in that was making him so emotional but his eyes started to well up and he was unable to stifle a quiet sob that escaped him.

“I assume that’s going to be alright with you?” Jemma smiled wiping a tear off his cheek.

Sniffing a little he nodded. Before he could say anything Jemma swooped forward and kissed him. Fitz was vaguely aware of the wetness on his cheeks but Jemma did not seem bothered, so he followed her lead, wrapping his tired arms around her and pulling her closer to him, enjoying every aspect of the kiss, feeling lighter than he had in weeks. The kiss was deeper than the one they had shared in the lab, less urgent. It was a kiss that told Fitz that there was time, that there would be more. He was very much looking forward to more, but more could be later, when he wasn’t covered in sweat, sand and blood.

When they finally broke apart Fitz noticed a hint of wild excitement in Jemma’s eyes that he chose to take as a compliment. Jemma spoke quietly, still panting a little, “Want to come with me and make sure that Lincoln has checked over Will and Coulson?”

“I suppose,” Fitz replied, his head spinning slightly, “I could use one of those isotonic drinks we keep in the med bay anyway.”

They walked hand in hand to the med bay not caring who could see them. Coulson gave them a gentle wink of approval from his bed, even May cracked a little smile from the chair beside him.  
“Lincoln. Where’s Will?” Fitz asked noticing the other unoccupied bed.

Lincoln shrugged, “He said he was fine, just a sprained ankle and that he would rather wait to get seen to on the base. He wanted me to concentrate on Coulson I think.”

Jemma let out an exasperated noise before turning to turning to Fitz, “I guess it has been a big day for him. He probably just wants a lie down and a chance to get used to being on Earth again. Still, he shouldn’t be on his own. We’d better go and find him.”

“Don’t worry,” Lincoln said, “You two should be taking it easy, I’ll go and find him.”

*Lincoln*

He walked down the corridors of The Bus looking for Will. Daisy popped her head out of her bunk as he passed.

“Got time to examine me Doctor?” she said seductively.

Lincoln grinned at her, “You should be resting.” He said allowing her to put her arms around his neck.

“Resting is so much more fun with you around.” She planted a light kiss on his bottom lip testing Lincoln’s resolve.

“I have to go and check on the new guy,” he said, “But I would very much like you to hold that thought for later.”

“Suit yourself Doc,” Daisy said releasing him, “I’m pretty sure he’s in the bunk at the end. But don’t take too long. Otherwise I might have to start resting without you.”

Lincoln shut his eyes and sighed, trying to not picture Daisy starting without him too much but not being able to suppress the wave of frustration that swept over him. Daisy knew just how to drive him crazy but he knew how to push her buttons to. He brushed a finger along her arm releasing a gentle pulse of electricity onto her skin, he felt her shiver.

“It’ll be worth the wait,” he whispered as he walked away.

He took his time walking towards where Daisy suggested, trying to shake off the suggestive conversation.

He knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Will muttered from inside. Lincoln did as instructed and opened the door.

“Sorry to disturb you,” Lincoln said putting on his Doctor voice, “But Jemma insisted that you should be checked on. You’ve been through a lot today.”

“It’s fine,” Will said, sitting up, “In fact, I’m glad you’re here.”

Before Lincoln could even cry out, Will thrust his hands forward and released what looked like a cloud of sand which engulfed Lincoln’s body. He had never felt anything like this before; warmth filled his body, stretching across every part of him and his mind felt cloudy and yet clear all at the same time. He looked at Will and was overcome with a wave of emotion unlike anything he had ever felt before. Will smiled at him, tilting his head to one side.

“Welcome to the Hive.”


	2. Infiltration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will's infiltration of SHIELD grows.

*Coulson*  
Phil Coulson sat at his desk reading through the intel they had gathered on Gideon Malik once again hoping there was an angle he hadn’t yet discovered. Although they had managed to stop Malik’s plan to get whatever was on that planet through the portal, he had no doubt that he would continue to try. They needed an angle to get to him. Coulson was drawn out of his musings by a tap on his office door.

“Come in,” he called out. The door opened slowly to reveal Lincoln.

“Sir,” Lincoln said formally. Coulson smiled, it was good to see Lincoln making the effort to act the part of agent.

“What can I do for you?” Coulson asked curiously, Lincoln rarely came to him with anything.

Lincoln paused for a moment and rubbed his hands together, clearly nervous, “I wanted to ask about the mission you sent Daisy on to find that inhuman in Columbia.”

Coulson gestured for him to continue.

“Well I overheard Mack and Hunter talking and they were saying that they were only going to bring the inhuman in if it was completely necessary.”

“You disagree?” Coulson asked trying to get a measure of Lincoln, “You are essentially out resident human expert, if there is something you would like to say then please, don’t hold back.”

Lincoln nodded, “Ok sir, well the thing is I don’t think it’s a case of if it’s necessary, I think it’s going to always be necessary to bring them in. For all of Jiaying's flaws towards the end she did create a good system. She evaluated potential inhumans before they ever got a chance to go through terragenisis, but now it’s random. These new inhumans could be anyway, capable of anything. It might sound hypocritical but I think every inhuman needs proper vetting to decide if they are safe to be out in society and if society is safe for them.”

Coulson considered what Lincoln had said for a moment, “You’ve changed your tune,” he said finally.

“It’s a dangerous time to have powers, just look at the Watchdogs,” Lincoln said simply.

“Okay,” Coulson said unable to argue with Lincoln’s logic, “I’ll send word to the team and ask them to bring her in.”

Another knock on the door brought their conversation to an end.

“Mr Daniel’s,” Coulson greeted warmly, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk, “Good to see you up and about, you’re looking well.”

“I’m slowly getting used to the gravity here,” Will said smiling, “and Mack made me some Bacon for breakfast this morning which was incredible.”

Coulson chuckled, “Gravity and bacon, the things we take for granted on this planet. Anyway what can I do for you?” 

Lincoln excused himself from the room, giving Will a pat on the back as he left.

“Well Director, I was thinking, I don’t know where any of my family are or if they are even still alive, I have no home, no job and really no purpose at the moment. I know my skills are out of date but I was hoping you might be able to make some use of me in SHIELD.”

For a moment Coulson considered Will’s request. Simmons had thought him worth rescuing and he was a trained astronaut, but Will was right, his skills were very outdated. Coulson fiddled with some of the papers on his desk whilst wondering if Mack could make use of Will in the garage at all.

“Is that Gideon Malik?” Will asked pointing at an old image.

“How do you know Malik?” Coulson was surprised that Will would know anything about him at all, let alone recognise an old photo.

“I met him when I was training at Pathfinder. Malik was funding us so he was around a lot during our training.”

Coulson nodded, “And what did you think of Malik?”

Will thought about his answer for a moment before speaking, “I can’t say I liked him much. It was like meeting half a person, he had a different agenda that much was obvious.”

“Very astute,” Coulson said impressed by Will’s ability to read someone, a useful skill for an agent, “I don’t think you’ll be surprised to know that Malik is actually the head of Hydra, he’s the one who sent you to be sacrificed to the ancient inhuman.”

“No,” Will said quietly, “That doesn’t surprise me much at all. Jemma told me about HYDRA’s part in my fate whilst we were stuck on that planet. What I don’t understand is what he thought he was going to gain out of it all.”

Coulson shuffled more of the papers on his desk, “He wants the same things all men like Malik want; power. So he hoped to release the inhuman god and ride on his coat tails to conquer the planet.” Coulson watched Will consider this for a moment.

“Well I think Malik needs to rethink his plan, I don’t see it going well for him,” Will said quietly, “His partner always seemed to be the brains behind Pathfinder anyway.”

“His partner?” Coulson asked quickly.

“Yeah a man named Michael Phillips, he always came with Malik on his visits. I couldn’t tell you whether he was in with Hydra or how much he knew about the true reason behind Pathfinder but he was clever, he always talked Malik through the science of what we were doing.”

Coulson could have jumped for joy, there it was, a potential angle to get to Malik. It was obvious to Coulson now that Will Daniel’s was too important to let out of SHIELD now, he could provide an insight that nobody else could.

“You know, I think we probably can make use of you here. Perhaps you could start in the garage helping Agent Mackenzie and if that goes well we could use another pilot if you’re up for some tough training?” Coulson said reaching out a hand to Will.

Will stood up and shook Coulson’s hand firmly, “Thank you sir.”

“Director,” Agent May said entering the office, she looked purposeful as always, offering Will a slight nod to acknowledge his presence, “I’ve just come to let you know that Daisy’s mission was a success and they’ve secured the inhuman.”

“Another inhuman?” Will asked. 

“Thanks May, that’s great news. Make sure we’re ready to receive her and then meet me in an hour to go and meet Ellis,” Coulson requested of May before turning back to Will. “SHIELD’s primary purpose is and always has been to protect the human race against local and alien threats. Part of that has recently come to include inhumans. You’ve already met a few of them here on the base. We want to safely bring in as many as we can to ensure their safety from Hydra and assess their general threat level to regular humans.”

“Sounds like really important work. So you bring inhumans here a lot?” Will asked.

Coulson was slightly confused by Will’s sudden interest around inhumans but then he supposed for someone that had missed the last fourteen years the idea of powered people must be quite fascinating.

“We don’t bring in as many as we might want to but yeah, we bring them here and if they are up to it, they get the option to join Agent Johnson’s team just like Lincoln and Joey.” He explained.

This definitely appeared to grab Will’s attention, “Would it be okay if I go and help Agent May get things ready? I would love to see the process.”

“Of course,” Coulson said gesturing to the doorway.

 

*Hunter*  
“Eughh I ache so much,” Hunter complained, stretching out his arms and groaning, “I hope she’s worth it,” he said nodding at the woman in the containment module.

Bobbi slapped him on the arm playfully, “Don’t be rude.”

“Well it’s not like she can understand us, and besides we just went through hell to make sure she’s safe. I think I’ve earned a bit of rudeness,” retorted Hunter.

The flight back to base was not a long one which Hunter was grateful of. It had been a long day and he had seen Bobbi put herself in a lot more danger than he was comfortable with for one mission and was keen to get her tucked back up into the safety of the base. Of course he would never tell Bobbi that for fear of her batons being shoved somewhere uncomfortable.

He did have to admit though he was impressed by the new inhuman, Elena. She had a sense of reckless bravery that he could easily identify with and anybody that could manage to capture Mack gained instant respect in his eyes. She was clearly not enjoying being contained though, ping ponging off the walls of her box.

On return to the base the team was greeted by agent May and Will Daniel’s, much to Hunter’s confusion.

“Well he must have impressed Coulson,” he muttered quietly to Mack.

“Yeah, I don’t know him well enough to make a judgement but Lincoln seems to have taken a shine to him, I saw them having a beer together last night, talking like they’d known each other for years,” Mack whispered back.

Hunter shook his head, “I don’t know how much I like him. There’s something creepy about him. God only knows what Simmons saw in him.”

“Well,” Mack said raising an eyebrow, “He is an astronaut and I hear women like that whole survival thing. You know, primal hunter gatherer.”

Hunter made a disgusted noise, “I’m going to get a coffee. Want a drink, love?” he called to Bobbi who was talking with May, she dismissed Hunter with a wave. 

Fitz was already in the kitchen making tea when Hunter reached it, he was humming to himself and looking cheerful.

“Good day?” Hunter asked suspiciously.

Fitz looked up from his tea making, “Yeah, I’ve made huge progress on Coulson’s new hand. I think he’s going to like this one. It’s got loads more toys and looks so real, some of my best work.”

Hunter gave Fitz a knowing look, suspecting that engineering was not the only thing putting him in a good mood, “So things are going well with a certain biochemist?”

Hunter could see Fitz trying to supress a smile, “Yes things are going well,” Fitz said, “But it is early days still.”

“So, have you two….had a slumber party yet?” Hunter said enjoying Fitz’s embarrassment. Fitz did not disappointment, blood rushing to his face rapidly.

Fitz made a few noises that weren’t words and banged the tea spoon he was holding on the counter before finally saying, “I am not one to kiss and tell.”

“Get in there mate!” Hunter cheered putting up a hand for Fitz to high-five. Fitz reluctantly slapped it with his own hand looking slightly smug despite his shyness, “I’m so glad Simmons had the sense to choose you over that hog face. So how was the night time activity?” Hunter knew he was pushing his luck with Fitz but some games were just too fun.

“I’m not going to give you a detailed highlight reel,” Fitz snapped, but he was still grinning from ear to ear, “I will say though that it was quite easily the best night of my existence.”

Hunter pulled Fitz into a tight hug, slapping him on the back.

“I hope I’m not interrupting something,” Simmons said dryly, entering the room, “I thought it was taking you a long time to make tea.”

“Sorry Jemma,” Hunter said releasing Fitz, “Leopald here was just telling me about his breakthrough with Coulson’s new hand and I wanted to congratulate him.”

“Of course you did,” Jemma said picking up one of the mugs and taking a sip, “You definitely wouldn’t be congratulating Fitz on getting laid last night.”

Fitz chocked on his tea, spitting it out onto the worktop.

“Well you don’t miss anything do you?” Hunter said laughing. He had always liked Jemma, her British sarcasm reminded him of his sister. “Anyway, we’ve got that superfast inhuman down in containment if you wanted to go and have a look.”

Simmons nodded whilst slapping Fitz on the back, helping him dislodge tea from his lungs, “We’ll have to go and meet her; the footage of her was fascinating.”

*Daisy*

Daisy watched Elena briefly, she looked a little broken, the news of her cousin’s death had been tough but she seemed to be coping. In a way Daisy was envious of Elena’s faith, she has sat and clutched the crucifix around her neck and prayed to help get through her grief. Daisy didn’t have a way of coping like that but at least she had SHIELD. From what she had seen of Elena so far she hoped she would also be a fit for SHIELD. It did feel a bit like a hostage situation at the moment however, Elena had begged to be allowed to stay in Columbia to sort out her family but Coulson’s order to bring her in had prevented that. Daisy had however promised SHIELD would make sure her family was safe until she was given the all clear to leave.

Will was also watching Elena quietly, sat in the corner of the room. His presence made Daisy feel slightly uncomfortable but she wasn’t sure why. He seemed nice enough, quiet but he always friendly. Lincoln spoke highly of him as well considering the short time they had known each other.

“I’ve just got word from Coulson,” Bobbi said from across the room, “Since Elena’s story checked out and she helped us in the field he’s happy for her to be let out of containment as long as she always has an escort.”

“I’d be happy to give her a tour of the base,” Mack said a little too quickly. Daisy noticed a heat rise up to his cheeks. She considered calling him out on it but it had been a long day, she’d save it for another time.

“Good timing,” Bobbi called out. Daisy turned to see Fitzsimmons entering the room, “We’re about to let out our honoured guest.”

“Excellent,” Simmons said beaming, “After all the help she gave you lot today I think she deserves not to be caged up like an animal.” She gave Will a little wave which he returned.

“Bobbi, can you help me translate?” Daisy asked approaching Elena’s module.

Daisy explained to Elena that she would be allowed out and that Mack was going to stay with her around the base all the while Bobbi translated. Elena nodded, looking pleased with the prospect of a little freedom. Once all was explained Daisy opened the door on the module and Elena gingerly walked out. Daisy could understand her nervousness, she was in a strange place and three of the people in the room she hadn’t met yet.

Fitz appeared to notice her nervousness and stepped forward his hand outstretched. Daisy smiled, Fitz had a good attitude towards inhumans, he had been the most understanding when she had gone through terragenisis herself.

“Leopald Fitz,” he said shaking her hand, “Viste imágenes de mí en el campo. Muy impresionante. Soy una mujer poderosa.”

Bobbi, Elena and Simmons burst into laughter. 

“I had no idea you thought of yourself that way,” Bobbi said through her giggles. 

Fitz looked at Daisy, she shrugged not understanding the joke either.

Bobbi continued, “Fitz just informed Elena that he is a powerful woman.”

“Oh bloody hell,” Fitz complained as Mack and Daisy joined in the laughter, “I’ve not taken Spanish since I was in secondary school.”

“Come on, I bet Elena is starving, Let’s show her to the kitchen to get something to eat,” Mack said wiping a tear from his eye.

“I’ll just finish up here and then I’ll meet you there,” Daisy called after them as they all left the room.

She busied herself with packing up all her equipment.

“This is better.” The voice startled her. She spun around to see Will still sat in his chair in the corner.

“Are you not hungry?” she asked a little blunter than she intended. If she hadn’t found Will unsettling before, she certainly did now.

“No I’m not hungry,” he said standing up and walking closer to her, “I’ve been waiting all day to get you alone.” 

The sand engulfed her before she had time to move. 

“Oh,” Daisy said quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a hard chapter to write. Due to Malik not getting hold of Hive as he planned I believe he would be much less prominent in the overall arch of this story. Finding the balance was tough. This chapter was a little slower than I intended however momentum will increase rapidly from this point. I just needed to set some ground work.


	3. Not The Ward We Expected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson and Will travel to a hospital to visit a relative of Will.
> 
> Meanwhile May puts together a team to hit back against HYDRA

*Jemma*

Jemma sat down to eat her breakfast quietly smiling to herself. She and Fitz had enjoyed a particularly fun evening the previous day, catching up on the new series of Doctor Who in Fitz’s bunk. 

“You look cheerful.”

Jemma snapped out of her day dream and looked up to see Will standing opposite her. She felt a pang of guilt that she knew was foolish. She and Will were on good terms, he was incredibly understanding all things considered. It was still very surreal seeing him walking around the base though, but she supposed she would get used to it.

“I’m good,” she said nodding, “I hear you’re getting on well down in the Garage with Mack.”

“I’m enjoying the work,” he said thoughtfully, “It gives me something to focus on. The world is very different to the way I remember it.”

“Well I think the team like you, I saw you playing cards with Lincoln and Daisy last night. Nice to see you aren’t worried about inhumans.”

“They’re fascinating,” Will said simply, “There is such a potential for change with them.”

Jemma considered his words before nodding in agreement, “All kinds of change, unfortunately it’s not always good.”

“Hey I thought I was the voice of doom and you were hope?” Will said raising an eyebrow. Jemma smiled at the familiarity remembering her affection for the man in front of her.

“That worked for us when we were stranded on a different planet but here I have science and logic. I am a realist.” She said proudly, taking a sip of tea. 

“Well it’s nice to see you in your natural habitat, it suits you. And he suits you.” 

Jemma caught his eye expecting to see at least a little jealousy but was surprised to see nothing but solemnness on his face. She was glad he had taken her and Fitz’s new relationship so well, god knows they had enough testing them without a bitter ex getting in the picture.

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

“Will, just the man I wanted to see,” Coulson said breaking the intimate moment. Will gave Coulson a look of surprise.

“I’ve been doing some research into the name you gave us, Malik’s partner from Pathfinder. With what you’ve provided I’m able to send out a mission today to take down a previously unknown Hyrda base. I don’t know if it will take us to Malik but it will certainly give us something,” Coulson announced patting Will on the arm.

“I’m glad I could help. It’s nice being useful,” Will replied.

Jemma was happy for Will, a win like this would definitely get him more favour within SHIELD.

“I also have some slightly more personal news,” Coulson continued to Wil, “I felt like I owed you a favour after what you did for us. So I did some digging and I found some information about your family. Unfortunately your father passed away several years ago but your mother is still alive.”

Will was oddly stoic receiving this information. Jemma suspected he was feeling very caught off guard. 

“Your mother is currently in hospital, she’s receiving treatment for a heart condition. I can take you to go and see her if you would like,” Coulson said sympathetically.

Will frowned a little, “Why do I need an escort?”

Jemma decided to answer this question on Coulson’s behalf, she felt it would sound better from someone he knew, “You’re still very new to SHIELD. You’ve not been given security clearance yet but you are holding a lot of secrets, secrets that could be very dangerous in the wrong hands. As such SHIELD will need to keep you under close tabs until you have proven yourself to be trustworthy.”

Coulson nodded, “Giving us intelligence on HYDRA is an excellent start.”

“Okay,” Will said quietly, “It’s a date.”

 

*May*

“Just remember this is stealth missions, we are here to gather intelligence, nothing more,” May ordered the team, looking particularly at Hunter.

“Yes Ma’am,” he said giving her a fake salute. May had to fight a very strong urge to punch him but resisted.

“Cut the cute crap,” she said simply. 

The mission Coulson had given them was straight forward enough. Since their win on Maveth, HYDRA had been quiet. It was finally a chance for SHIELD to get ahead thanks to Will’s lead.   
The name they had been given was Michael Phillips. After some research they had discovered a little more about the man, linking him to the centipede project. Phillips also appeared to run his own company that was fronting as an astrological research facility. Their mission today was to find out exactly what they were doing and what part they were playing in Malik’s plan.

May was in charge of the operation, Daisy was posing as an astrologist looking for work, taking prompts from Simmons back at base until she could get a chance to access a computer, Bobbi and Hunter were working back up, and they would stay in the shadows and only step in if Daisy got into trouble. Everybody knew their roles, everybody was focused. But May was nervous as she always was going on a field assignment. Not for herself but for her team. Daisy was so young, Hunter thought he was unbreakable and Bobbi was only just recovered enough to be back on active duty, but she kept her reservations to herself. They had tried avoiding going in but Daisy had been unable to hack the system from the outside.

“HYDRA have been stealing my skills,” she had declared looking annoyed, “All the data it geolocked. My guess is that it can only be accessed from inside the building. If I can get my hard drive into the system I can give us remote access from the outside.”

May got herself comfortable, reluctantly in the back of the van, headset on and laptop open. She hated running missions from the backseat but it was the best way to ensure everybody’s safety.

“Is everybody in position?” she said over the comms.

“Hunter affirmative.”

“Morse affirmative.”

“Simmons affirmative.”

“Daisy affirmative and about to enter the lobby.”

May was watching closely on the camera feed. Hunter was hovering nearby the building dressed in bright lycra, ready to make a delivery if Daisy needed a distraction. Bobbi sat on a bench wearing a professional blouse and was reading the paper, her handbag loaded with two pistols and her batons just in case.

Daisy meanwhile was ready to be interviewed for a job, she was dressed in a smart pant suit and glasses that Fitz had planted a small camera on. May watched Daisy enter the building and scan the lobby, May counted four security guards, only two were armed. One sat behind a computer at the desk. This was no good for Daisy, there was no way she could get something plugged in there unseen.

“Can I help you Miss?” one of them asked putting a hand out to stop Daisy.

“Yes,” Daisy said pulling a letter out of her bag, “My names Lucy Hopkins, I’m here for an interview for an internship.”

The guard checked the letter, “Right this way,” he said leading Daisy down a corridor to a waiting area.

“We’re in,” May announced to the team over the radio.

Daisy sat in the waiting room for a couple of minutes but was so far unable to find a way in to the computer system. Finally she was invited into the interview room.

“Simmons you’re up,” May ordered.

Simmons chirpy English accent filled the radio, “Agent Johnson, please confirm audio by looking briefly at your feet.”

Daisy’s visual feed swopped down to her feet just for a moment.

“Excellent,” Simmons confirmed.

“Well it is a pleasure to meet you Dr Hopkins,” the man interviewing Daisy began. May recognised him from the photos they had dug up during their research, “Two PHD’s at your age was just so impressive we had to meet you.”

“Thank you,” Daisy replied, Simmons began to speak, Daisy parroting her words carefully, “Of course the pleasure is all mine really Dr Phillips.”

“You know who I am?” Phillips looked a mix of surprised and impressed.

“Of course I know who you are,” Daisy repeated after Phillips, “I read your paper on The Firewall Paradox in Black Holes. The concept that a person could use a black hole to travel to beyond our known universe, well that could change astro-physics as we know it.”

The interview went on for about thirty minutes. Daisy-Simmons continued to impress Dr Phillips with their answers but Daisy had gotten no closer to a computer.

“Well,” Dr Phillips said suddenly getting up and clapping his hands together, “can I interest you on a tour of the facility?”

“Well that would be quite lovely,” Daisy declared enthusiastically. As Phillips turned away Daisy muttered, “Jesus Simmons, I feel like I’m going to vomit rainbows.”

“Well I’m sorry for being proper,” Simmons retorted.

“Stay focused,” May chastised them down the radio, “This is your chance to get to a computer.”

“Shit,” Hunter suddenly cried, “Malik is on his way over there. What are the chances of him recognising Daisy?”

May wheeled around, sure enough she could see Malik stepping out of a car and making his way to the facility.

“Very high since he had Ward as his lapdog,” Bobbi replied.

“No need for alarm yet,” May reassured them, “He’ll probably go straight in to one of the offices be none the wiser that Daisy was ever there.”

This optimism was only short lived.

“Oh excellent,” Phillips said looking up from his pager, “One of our most important stakeholders has just arrived. I would love for him to meet our potential star intern.” Phillips beamed at Daisy.

“Make an excuse, quickly!” May barked.

“Oh surely we don’t want to waste his time on meeting little old me, besides I really wanted to see the facility,” Daisy said sweetly, May could only imagine the eyelash fluttering she was doing.

Phillips chuckled, “Oh we’ll get to the tour, just come to the lobby and say hello.”

“Bobbi, Hunter you’re up. Get to the lobby and create a distraction,” ordered May urgently. It took all of her willpower to stay sat still. Knowing the head of Hydra was in metres of Daisy was like torture.

“Hunter, I’ll create a distraction, you get the drive from Daisy,” Bobbi said, walking quickly towards the building, May wasn’t sure but she could have sworn she just saw Bobbi rip the chest of her blouse.

“Roger that,” Hunter replied mounting his bike.

Just as Malik came into view on Daisy’s feed Bobbi hurled herself into the lobby screaming and crying. 

“Oh my god you have to help me,” she wailed, “Some crazy guy with a knife just stole my cell and I’m so scared he’s going to come back.”

All eyes, were on Bobbi. Even the security guard from behind the desk got up to run over to her. Malik too distracted by Bobbi’s startling appearance did not see Daisy.

“Daisy, now’s your chance, get out of there,” Commanded May.

Daisy did as she was told, passing the hard drive covertly as she could to Hunter who was on his way in.

“Parcel for you,” Hunter called cheerfully over the commotion.

“Put it on the desk,” growled one of the guards. 

“No problem sir,” Hunter replied. He sauntered over to the desk and quickly slipped the drive into the back of the computer before dropping the parcel.

“Does anybody have a spare jacket for this poor lady?” Phillips asked the room.

“Oh miss, I have a spare t-shirt on the back of my bike,” Hunter said chivalrously offering Bobbi an arm, “Let’s get you covered up and I’ll help you to the police station to report this.”

May could see Malik staring at Hunter from across the room, as if trying to figure out where he recognised him from but before he could draw any sort of conclusion they were already back out on the street. Once out of view they dashed over to the van where Daisy had already arrived.

“Next time we’re totally starting with that plan,” Daisy cheered, “That could have saved me thirty minutes of boring conversation.”

“Well on that note I’ll be off then,” Simmons said in mock offense.

“Thanks for your help Simmons, we’ll see you back at base.” May replied before signing her off, “So are we in?” she asked Daisy.

“Mission accomplished,” Daisy said winking, “I am downloading everything off their database now.”

May nodded and jumped into the driver seat of the van giving a sigh of relief, the mission had been a success but that was a close call.

*Coulson*

“She’s a nice ride,” Will said approvingly stepping out of Lola.

“She’s vintage,” Coulson said proudly. He would never get tired of people appreciating Lola, “I’ve had her for years. I mean she’s changed a lot, got a few more toys. Fitz and Mack have both added the odd touch where needed, but she’s still my Lola.”

Coulson felt his cell buzz in his pocket, he took it out to read the message from May.

“Good news,” Coulson said slapping Will’s back, “Looks like your lead has proved fruitful. Agent May’s team is waiting to debrief us when we get back.”

Will nodded but was quiet as they entered the hospital. Coulson respected this. He had after all not seen his mother for fourteen years and had no idea what condition she was in. This was one of those scenarios that Coulson could not comprehend, Will’s mother probably thought he was dead and he was about to suddenly reappear. Coulson darkly considered if it was a good idea to shock an older woman with a heart condition but concluded it was best to keep these thoughts to himself.

“I’m here to see Olivia Daniels,” Will said when they reached the reception, “I’m her son.”

The nurse behind the desk pointed them down the ward. As they reached the room that help Olivia Daniels Coulson knew it was time to give Will some space.

“I’ll be just outside,” he said quietly.

Coulson waited outside the room flicking through a car magazine. After a while Will came out the room looking lost and confused.

“How is she?” Coulson asked.

“She’s dying,” Will said bowing his head, “She’s on life support but they’re going to take her off it soon because she isn’t responding to treatment. But at least I got to speak to her before. Thank you for giving me that Sir. It’s the most human I’ve felt for a while.”

“Anytime,” Coulson said starting down the corridor. 

Suddenly a familiar voice shattered through Coulson’s body, causing his heart to skip a beat and dead weight plummet into his stomach,

“You know I’m only teasing you Nurse Moore,” the voice said playfully. Coulson charged ahead, turning down a corridor, finding himself face to face with,

“Grant Ward?” Coulson gasped.


	4. Friend or Foe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ward is brought in by SHIELD and emotions are running high. Can Ward be trusted?

*Coulson*

Coulson was in shock, his head was floating giving him an odd out of body experience. He was trying desperately to process what he was seeing before him and whether it was even possible. Last time he had seen Ward, Fitz had lit him on fire and they had left him screaming in the sand on a distant planet. Even if he had made it through the portal May had turned the building into rubble.

“Phil Coulson,” Grant declared, beaming as if they were old friends. It was only then that Coulson saw the full picture. Ward was sat in a wheelchair, his face was heavily scarred on one side from burning and he was far less muscular than Coulson remembered. But the most startling part of Ward was probably the parts that were missing.

“You lost your legs,” Coulson said quietly, not able to find any other words. Will stood beside Coulson frowning and unsure of what to do with himself. It was a very disconcerting site seeing Ward like this. A man who was once so powerful suddenly transformed into a cripple and yet he looked happy about it.

“Do you know this man?” the bubbly Nurse Moore asked smiling warmly.

“He’s an old war buddy,” Ward said wheeling himself towards Coulson, “He was my commanding officer, we’ve been to hell and back together.”

“You’re not wrong,” Coulson replied finally remastering his senses.

“Well we’re all done here anyway,” the nurse declared, “Why don’t you boys go and get a coffee together? It sounds like you could use a catch up.”

“I’ll see you next week for our next date,” Ward said winking at the nurse.

“So cheeky,” she said giggling and made her way off to the nurses’ station.

Ward studied Coulson carefully, raising a single eyebrow at him, “You here to take me in?” he finally asked.

Coulson shrugged his arms at Ward, “I didn’t even know you were alive to take in but now we’re here then I guess we will. Are you going to come quietly?”

Ward laughed, the sound unnerved Coulson, “Look at me, I couldn’t run away if I wanted to. Besides I would rather you take me in than Hydra.”

Will nudged Coulson on the arm and muttered quietly, “I may be confused here but didn’t this guy try to kill you before?”

Coulson grabbed his cell out of his pocket, “May, I need you to organise a pick up for me. I’m bringing back an unexpected guest and I don’t have room for him in Lola.”

 

*Fitz*

Fitz threw Jemma a furtive look across the lab, sometimes he couldn’t help but stare at her. This time she caught him but he couldn’t quite make himself feel ashamed. There was something very endearing about the heat rising in her cheeks, he added a little wink just to sweeten the deal. This seemed to be the icing on the cake. Jemma put down chemical vials she was holding and made her way over to Fitz. 

“You know I’m never going to get any work done if you keep making googly eyes at me,” she said sounding annoyed, but the kiss she planted on his lips gave Fitz a very different message.

“Well I’m not going to get any work done with you over there looking like that.”

Jemma rolled her eyes but he could see she flattered. Fitz felt very smug with himself. Things had been going so well for them over the weeks since he had gotten off of Maveth and Fitz was more content than he knew he was able to be. Every morning he had woken up with Jemma in his bed. At first he was worried that their new relationship would feel awkward, they had been friends for such a long time that such a big change was bound to have an effect. This was one of those rare occasions that Fitz was thrilled to be proven wrong. As Jemma had stated after they spent their first night together; they had already spent ten years looking after each other’s emotional, intellectual and social needs it was actually ridiculous that they had only just started to take care of their physical needs. Fitz was never going to argue with her logic, especially since she took care of his physical needs so well, and from all reports he wasn’t doing a bad job either. The fact was Fitz was in a happy little bubble with Jemma, it was going to burst sooner or later but for now he was enjoying the ride. Not that it was perfect, they had trodden a difficult path to get where they were now, riddled with guilt and hardship but they were working past all that together.

“So what are you working on anyway?” Jemma asked running her fingers along the back of his neck.

“I’m just trying to improve the dwarfs surveillance capabilities by adding cloaking tech to them, having a little difficult getting it to stabilise. Most cloaking is done on planes, you know big blue and white background to blend into, but the dwarves background changes a lot more often and I’m getting the odd bit of flicker from them. It’s subtle but it’s enough to give the game away to anyway paying attention,” Fitz explained. Jemma nodded thoughtfully.

“Sounds tricky,” she agreed, “Out of my engineering depths I’m afraid.”

“What about you?” Fitz asked nodding towards the chemicals she had abandoned on her desk.

“I’m still working on a cure for inhumans, much to Daisy’s disapproval. But Daisy needs to see the bigger picture. Poor Dr Garner would never be a murderer by choice and I’m sure there are plenty others out there that just want to live a plain and boring life again,” Jemma said sounding irritable. She had the same argument with Daisy more times than he could remember. “Anyway, better get back to it, I suppose.” Fitz scanned around the room quickly to check they were alone before pulling Jemma in for a final kiss before releasing her back to her workload.

“Oi lovebirds,” Bobbi shouted from the door. Fitz and Jemma jumped apart like they had been electrocuted.

“You Brits really are odd about your public displays of affection. You know I’m not going to start screaming cooties at you if I see you have a cheeky moment,” Bobbi laughed.

Fitz and Jemma both flushed.

“But it’s just not the proper thing to do,” Jemma said quietly. Bobbi laughed harder.

“Anyway, Coulson just called in. He’s on his way back to the base with Daniels and he wants us to all meet in the conference room in ten minutes. He’s asked that we be mentally prepared for a shock, whatever that means.”

Fitz met Jemma’s eye and shrugged, “God only knows.”

Bobbi gave them a knowing look, “I don’t want to alarm you but whatever it was even seems to have May worked up.”

Twenty minutes later the team was gathered in the conference room waiting for Coulson’s arrival.

“Hey, Turbo,” Mack said to Fitz, “Any idea what this is about?”

“No clue, unless it’s about the op that May lead earlier,” Fitz said shrugging.

“It can’t be,” Jemma piped in, “Coulson hasn’t been debriefed about that yet, he’s been at the hospital.”

Fitz looked around the room, everybody looked nervous. Daisy, Lincoln, Joey and Elena were huddled up in a corner talking amongst themselves looking worried, Bobbi and Hunter were nearby, Hunter taking wild guesses about what was happening. Finally the tension was broken when Coulson, May and Will entered the room.

“So Coulson,” Coulson started, “I imagine you’re all wondering why I’ve gathered a meeting. I’ve had a decision to make today as to whether to even bring you all in on this but since this is concerning something that has had an impact on all of your lives in some way, some of you more than others,” Coulson’s eyes met Fitz’s. Fitz’s involuntarily reached down and reached Jemma’s hand. There was something that looked too much like fear in Coulson’s eyes which unsettled Fitz profoundly. 

“I think you are now all familiar with what happened on Maveth, how Fitz saved me from Grant Ward and we made the decision to leave him to die. It was not an easy decision to make and it’s one that I’ve been unsure about. However….”

Fitz’s heart rate sped up and he gripped Jemma’s hand tighter, a move the she reciprocated.

“It appears that Ward has continued his history of being difficult to kill.”

“Where is he?” Hunter suddenly shouted aggressively. Fitz felt himself begin to tremble.

Coulson closed his eyes for a moment as if trying to escape for a moment. After a large sigh he finally spoke, “He’s here, in containment.”

Fitz was running before he had even made the decision to move his legs, he charged as quickly as was able to the containment cells on the base. He knew he wasn’t thinking clearly but he also knew that the murderous swine did not belong here, not in his home, not in the place that Jemma was.  
When Fitz finally reached Ward’s cell and laid eyes on him he was beyond anger. He banged hard on the windows of the cell, screaming at the top of his lungs,

“YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED ON THAT PLANET! I SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO COULSON AND MADE SURE WE HAD FINISHED THE JOB! YOU DON’T DESERVE TO EVEN DRAW AIR!”

Ward did not respond, he simply observed Fitz quietly and expressionless. This angered Fitz more, he wanted to fight Ward, he wanted to kill him. Fitz slapped the palm reader on the containment module but it wouldn’t give him access, he tried again and again hitting it harder.

“It’s locked to everyone but me,” Coulson said in a commanding voice. His calmness angered Fitz.

“OPEN IT!” he roared at Coulson, closing the distance between them, fists clenched.

“Fitz stop!” the sound of her voice brought him crashing back to reality, he spun around the see Jemma staring at him, her eyes damp. The rest of the team stood behind her. His hands unclenched, and he took gasps of air trying to steady himself, his head still spinning with adrenaline. 

“I know you’re angry,” she said quietly, “I am too, but look at him.” 

Fitz slowly turned around to face Ward again. He was sat on the bed, Fitz could see the heavy scarring on his face and neck, not surprising given that Fitz had set him alright with a flare, he could not bring himself to feel sympathetic for this but then he saw the stumps, wrapped in bandages where Ward’s legs used to be. The look on Ward’s face was fitting of the man Fitz was looking at. There was a sadness in his eyes that Fitz had never seen there before. He was broken.

“He might have no legs but we still has an arse we can kick,” Hunter mumbled. Fitz couldn’t quite bring himself to laugh.

Ward pulled himself out of bed and climbed into his wheelchair, brining himself closer the window the team looked through. 

“I know you all hate me,” he said addressing the team, “But I can promise you that none of you hate me more than I hate myself, for everything.”

“Oh spare us,” Daisy spat, “We’ve heard this all before and at the first chance you got you stabbed us all in the back yet again.”

“I’m not asking you to trust me,” Ward said quietly shaking his head, “And I’m definitely not asking for forgiveness. I don’t deserve that. What I am asking for is a chance to do some good and help you all, I owe you that much.”

“Well this is a miraculous turnaround,” Jemma said sarcastically.

Fitz couldn’t believe what he was hearing. After everything Ward had done to him and Jemma and everybody else, the people he had murdered at Garrets demand and all the lies, how could he possibly think that he had any right to come back into their lives and act like they could all just put it behind them. Yet despite his anger there was a part of Fitz that was curious about the sadness in Ward’s eyes.

“So what has suddenly made you change? I don’t believe that just losing your legs would be enough, I’m sure Hydra would have gotten you some new ones if you had begged them enough.” Fitz said in a low quiet voice.

“You didn’t look back,” Ward said simply.

Fitz did not understand what Ward was saying, “What?”

“You shot me with a flare gun and left me in the sand, screaming and begging for help. You left me to do die alone, and you didn’t look back.”

Fitz inhaled deeply trying to absorb what Ward was trying to say, after a moment he finally spoke a slight tremble in his voice.

“Why should I have looked back? After everything you have done, you don’t even deserve pity.”

Ward nodded slowly, “And that’s what made me see myself more clearly than I ever have done before. Fitz you are the most forgiving and generous person I have met in my entire life. You were the last to believe that I was really a double agent and even when I was dropping you and Jemma into the ocean you still believed you could appeal to my humanity, which very nearly worked.”

Fitz found himself frozen to the spot, he felt Jemma move closer to him and slip her hand into his. He gripped her hand tightly, welcoming the support.

Ward continued, “So if someone like you, someone that used to call me brother, couldn’t even spare me a pitiful glance before leaving me to die then what kind of monster was I? Anyway, I managed to get through the portal just before if closed but I got caught in the building collapse. It took two days for someone to find me by which point my legs were crushed beyond repair but it gave me time to think. I don’t want to be a monster anymore and I certainly don’t want to serve some naïve devil worshipping cultist like Malik anymore. I can do good with SHIELD if you’ll let me.”

“How did Coulson even find you?” Hunter asked, “We all thought you were dead, we weren’t looking were we?” He shout Coulson an accusing look.

“No, I’m as surprised as you are,” Coulson said steadily.

“I was looking for you,” Ward explained, “I didn’t want Hydra to pick me up so I had to stay quiet. The rescue team the picked me up took me to the nearest hospital. Whilst I was there I researched people linked to SHIELD in hospital, I wasn’t well enough to do anything else. My searching pulled up Will Daniels’ mother, it was a long shot but I had myself transferred to the same hospital hoping that someone from SHIELD would find me. Nothing happened for a while and I was about to start looking for another way when Director Coulson himself suddenly appeared. I was so relieved, if Hydra had found me I’d probably be dead or being forced back into helping Malik with his ridiculous. If Garret had told me all those years ago what Hydra really was I would never have gone along with him but then I’m not sure he even knew the truth of it.”

The sincerity of Ward’s words left Fitz feeling lost in his own mind and he found himself torn. Seeing Ward this way stirred up old emotions that Fitz did not know still lingered within him. There was a time when he had considered Ward family and cared for him as such. But Ward had proved himself not to be a traitor and a liar and Fitz could not shake the mistrust, the slight shake in his right hand, a remnant of his brain damage, was a constant reminder who Ward’s loyalty really belonged to.

“You are just looking out for yourself now that Hydra have turned into a disappointment for you,” Fitz hissed. Not being able to stand the emotion of the moment any longer Fitz walked away, Jemma still holding his hand went with him, he could sense her concern for him. They walked down the corridor in silence until they reached his bunk.

“Has Coulson lost his mind?” he asked Jemma raising his arms above his head in frustration. He caught a slightly frightened expression on Jemma’s face that disarmed him completely. “I’m sorry. I just can’t believe he’s alive, let alone here in this building.”

Jemma sat down at the end of the bed, “I know,” she whispered, “I must admit, I’d forgotten how convincing he could be. I almost believed what he was saying.”

Fitz let out I sigh, “Me too. And that scares me more than anything.”

*Daisy*

Daisy sat in the lounge area, Lincoln at her side on the sofa. Will, Joey and Elena occupied the rest of the chairs. Daisy was in a state of shock after seeing Ward again. She was glad Will was nearby, his presence was so soothing.

“Are you okay?” Will asked her calmly.

Daisy thought about it for a moment. In truth she wasn’t sure that she was alright. Ward was not someone she had ever expected to see again let alone almost feel sorry for.

“I think so. There’s just a lot of old emotions with Ward. We were very close once but then we found out he was pretending to be something he wasn’t, it’s difficult trying to work out who we have locked up.”

Will nodded, “Do you think he’ll be any threat to us and our plans?”

“Well without him you would never have made it to us at all,” Lincoln said thoughtfully.

“I guess we should thank him really,” Joey replied.

Daisy gave a sarcastic laugh, “I wouldn’t go as far as that. Don’t get me wrong I’m glad we’re all her together but Ward has made us all miserable. I don’t think he’s a threat though. He doesn’t know what you really are and he doesn’t know about this bond we share, nobody knows about that but us.”

“Good,” Will said smiling, “I don’t want anyone to get in the way of this team we are building. SHIELD is proving to be very useful, bringing us more to join our family.”

The warmth that Will’s words gave Daisy was euphoric. Having a family was all that she had ever dreamed of for her entire life and now she finally had one. This family was better than she could ever have imagined as a child, the bond they shared didn’t need the ties of DNA it transcended that. 

Elena smiled, “Maybe we should tell SHIELD, if they knew the wonderful things we wanted to do….”

Will cut her off, “No, they wouldn’t understand yet, they’ll see us a threat. We need to keep building this team until we are ready to reveal ourselves.”

Daisy nodded knowing he was right. She had seen the reaction when she had first changed, they were resistant and afraid, and something as big as they were planning now would terrify them. 

“Yeah, they just aren’t ready yet,” she agreed, “But anyway, I’ve got to go and sort out that intelligence I got with May today. Coulson is expecting a presentation soon.” She got up to leave the room.

“Wait up,” Lincoln called after her catching her up in the corridor.

“You alright?” Daisy asked seeing his slightly furrowed brow.

Lincoln hesitated before speaking, “I just wanted to check, I know the team is going to be okay with Ward around but are we, like you and I, going to be okay? It’s just, I know the two of you have some history.”

Daisy couldn’t help but let a little giggle out, “Ward was charming and handsome when I met him and yeah, we were close, but he was living a lie. What you and I have is built of honesty, it’s real. And with Will around we have any even deeper connection than ever. No, Ward is not going to cause us issues. Not only has that ship sailed, I’m pretty sure it hit an iceberg and sank.”

“Good,” Lincoln said smiling and sweeping a small tuft of Daisy’s hair behind her ear.

Daisy leaned in closer to him so their faces were so close he could feel his hot breath on her lips,

“I never picked you to be the jealous type,” she whispered.

Lincoln smiled, “I’m not, but you drive me crazy.” He gave her a gentle kiss that sent a shiver up her spine and a craving for more.

“Shame I have work to do,” Daisy said sighing, “Come and help if you want?”

“I’ll go make the coffee,” he smiled.


	5. The Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SHIELD uses the intelligence gathered from Hydra to get ahead.

*Coulson*  
“So what have you got for me?” Coulson said taking a seat on a table next to May. Daisy and Lincoln stood ready to present the findings from the astronomy centre. Ideally Coulson had wanted these results sooner but finding Ward had been somewhat a distraction for everybody. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife, Ward’s presence on the base casting a dark shadow across them all. He knew he’d lost some of the teams trust bringing him here but Coulson had been unable to find an alternative, besides in the unlikely event that Ward was telling the truth the intelligence he could provide would be a big help.

“Okay,” Daisy started bringing up data on the screen, “As I’m sure you’re aware that the whole astronomy research is just a front, however what they are really doing isn’t actually that far from the truth. Malik has been pumping a tonne of money at them for years getting them to research Maveth and portals trying to find a way to bring Hydra’s god back.”

May let out a sigh, Coulson knew what she was thinking.

“None of this is new information,” she said bluntly.

Daisy gave a coy smile, “No but we have found something out. We know exactly what the next stage of their plan is.”

Coulson sat up straighter, his interest peaked.

This time Lincoln spoke, “We know that they are looking to use inhumans now to train up and send through the portal.”

“Why inhumans?” Coulson said surprised. 

“Well they know for certain that this creature feeds off people to survive but they believe that it will not kill a member of it’s own species, inhumans, and will therefore be able to work with them to get off the planet. Thanks to Fitzsimmons they now have a way to trace where the portal will appear but so far the teams of regular humans they’ve sent through, none of them have made it back. They aren’t certain, they could be getting killed by the environment or the ancient inhuman,” Lincoln finished looking slightly disgusted.

Coulson smiled, “They’re getting desperate, good. Do we know if they have any inhumans left after…” he gave May a sympathetic look. “Well after Lash depleted their stock.”

“They have a couple, not any they class as disposable though, so they’re hunting for more,” Daisy said, “And lucky for us they left a nice list just laying around.”

For a wild moment Coulson wanted to get up and dance, they were finally one step ahead of Hydra, but he didn’t even want to imagine the look May would have given him.

“Excellent news. Well hopefully with this information we can carry on out winning streak and save a few inhumans whilst we’re at it, maybe even build the secret warriors.”  
“There was something else in the files as well that might be worth looking into,” Daisy added, “A scientists name, Dr Radcliffe kept coming up as a person of interest to Hydra but nothing specified why they wanted him.”

“Probably worth getting Fitzsimmons to take a look into him, they may know a little more,” Coulson said, “You two get started on that list of inhumans, try and find out who and where they all are and prioritise those who would be of greatest interest to Hydra.”

“Can do,” Daisy said with a grin before grabbing her laptop, she and Lincoln left talking excitedly about the potential inhumans they could find.

Coulson gave May a little nudge with his elbow, “Good work getting this intel, it’s going to really push things in our favour.”

May made an amused noise, “I didn’t do much, it was Bobbi and Hunter’s quick thinking that got us this, and Bobbi’s lack of inhibition.”

He studied her for a moment, her brow was slightly furrowed but he could see that she was trying her best not to show any emotion.

“You’re worried?” he asked but really it was a question. He knew May and normally if she had doubts about his judgement she would speak up, unless she had a reason to doubt her own thoughts.

May sighed, confirming his theory, “Do you ever get the feeling it’s a bad idea having a lot of inhumans in the same place? You saw how badly things went south with Jiaying’s community, there was nearly an all out war.”

“I’ve been worried, I am worried,” Coulson said nodding, “but with Daisy looking after things I worry a lot less. She’s a SHEILD agent first, her powers come second.” He could sense that May was not quite reassured and she continued to voice her concerns.

“What if we’re putting them in danger gathering them all up in one place? We could be painting a big target for The Watchdogs, for Hydra….”

And suddenly Coulson understood her worry, “We constantly have people looking out for Andrew,” he said giving her hand a gentle squeeze, “He won’t get in a hundred miles off this base without us picking him up and besides, Simmons is still working on a cure so you never know.”

She pulled her hand away from him as is he was burning her, “I’m not a child that needs soothing. Don’t give me false hope Phil.” And with that she stalked out of the room. Coulson sat by himself for a bit replaying what had just happened, he was not used to May having emotional outbursts and he didn’t know how to help her no matter how much he wanted to. He concluded the best course of action would be to give her space and besides, he had some leads to investigate.

*Mack*  
Mack grabbed his gear out of his locker, he was looking forward to going out in the field with Fitzsimmons. Lately he hadn’t had much chance to hang out with Fitz and he found himself missing his friend a little. The mission was low risk and they might even have a chance to grab a beer before it was over. All they had to do was go in, get a scientist called Radcliffe and then leave, nice and simple, just how Mack liked his field ops. Sometimes he worried Coulson forgot he was an engineer before he was an operator but he knew Coulson only sent him out when he had to.

Mack became aware of footsteps in the doorway, “On hey Yo-yo,” he said warmly. As usual her presence stirred a swooping sensation in his stomach, something he was acutely aware he had not felt since he was a teenager. He knew exactly what the sensation meant but he didn’t dare admit it to himself or anybody else, “Anything I can help you with?”

“I spoke to Coulson, he said I am to come with you, he says it would be good for me to learn on an easy mission,” Elena said, her English was improving all the time, “Will you help me get equipment?”

Mack nodded and took Elena to storage to help her get what she needed. He was careful to not get too close to her or look at her for too long. Sometimes when their eyes met he was sure he saw something within her, just a slight twinkle but he worried that he was imagining it. Besides, Elena had been through so much lately, getting her powers, losing her cousin, basically being imprisoned by SHIELD, he didn’t want to take advantage of her being vulnerable. That said the wicked smile she was currently sporting said a lot of things but vulnerable was not one of them.

“What size do you think I am?” she said raising her eyebrows. He felt himself tense up as he distracted himself searching through the uniforms. 

He cleared his throat as he pulled out a set of clothing, “This is the size Daisy wears, you seem about her size.”

“I think we all look small to you.”

Mack let out a laugh, “I might be big, but I reckon you can kick my ass.”

“Well I already have once, but I am happy to do again. Having you tied up was fun.”

Mack froze, taking a gulp.

“You ready to go?” Fitz said poking his head round the door of the equipment closet.

Mack had never been so pleased to see him, “Sure thing Turbo.” He thrust the uniform he was holding at Elena and marched towards the quinjet, she followed suit. Mack was grateful they would have Fitzsimmons to serve as a buffer on the flight, it was a long way to Bucharest and the plane was small. 

“I really hope Dr Radcliffe isn’t part of Hydra,” Jemma sad as they took their seats for the journey, “I can see him being useful in curing Dr Garner.”

“Don’t let Daisy hear you talking cures,” Mack scolded, “She’s more passionate about inhuman rights than ever.”

Fitz looked at Elena, “Do you have any thoughts about it? You know, making inhumans back into regular humans?”

Mack watched Elena closely, judging her reaction, she furrowed her brow for a moment.

“My powers are a gift from God,” she said slowly, “I don’t think anybody has the right to take them away.”

“Taking your power away is not on the cards,” Fitz said diplomatically, talking over Jemma who had opened her mouth to speak, “A cure would be targeted more on those who don’t want powers or those who want to hurt other people.”

Mack went to place a hand on Elena’s knee but instead left it hovering awkwardly between them, “You do God’s work, some other people, well they work for the devil. We have to stop them.”

Her eye’s seemed to pierce his and there was a fury burning in them that he had not seen before, it was the first time she had ever frightened him.

“Only God can judge us. Our duty is to give them a chance to do the right thing. You do not castrate a rapist or cut off a thief’s hands. No, you give them time to change and see the error.” She was almost shouting the words.

Mack was taken off guard, he could see that Fitz and Jemma were to. “I hadn’t thought of it that way,” he said quietly, “I am sorry if I offended you.” This time he went against his better judgement and let them hand fall onto her knee.

“It’s okay Agent Mackenzie, I understand why you fear us. I also think if somebody does not want their power then that might be different, but maybe they can learn to accept who they are and find happiness that way. But enough of this dark talk though, I want to enjoy my first mission,” she looked at Jemma and pointed to her pile of gear on the floor next to her, “You will show me how I’m supposed to wear all this kit?”

“Of course,” Jemma said smiling. Mack imagined that she was pleased Elena still wanted to be friends. They walked together to the back room of the jet. As soon as they left the room Fitz jumped over to the seat next to Mack and whispered, “Do I detect a little tension between you and our speedy friend?”

Mack swore internally for being obvious, “No,” he said too quickly.

Fitz raised an eyebrow, “I know my social skills are terrible but even I’ve seen the way you two look at each other. Anything happened yet?”

“No, and it’s not going to,” Mack hissed quietly, “Now shut up before they hear you.”

“Look I know you don’t want to hear this but listen to a man that knows, don’t waste time. It’s the only thing I regret with Jemma, all those years we could have been so happy but we didn’t get our bloody act together. We make the most of it now, but we’ll never get that time back.”

This did hit a nerve with Mack but he still wasn’t ready to admit it. Truth be told Mack was not used to finding anybody intimidating let alone a woman he was interested in. As the two girls returned from getting Elena changed however Mack slipped up in his thoughts, the uniform fit her perfectly showing off her athletic figure and her feminine curves, there definitely was something appealing about a strong woman.

*Simmons*

They landed in Bucharest and set up in the hotel room with efficiency, Elena was a big help in this. Jemma was enjoying working with her, since she had been taken in by SHIELD they hadn’t had much time to get to know each other. Jemma liked her, she liked her strength and her certainty in what was right and wrong. In a way Jemma envied that, she lived in facts but mortality had always been tricky, Elena didn’t have that worry

“So Simmons and I are going to pose as top level geneticists looking to make a sale,” Fitz explained to Mack and Elena. Jemma had picked up Dr Radcliffe entering an underground club about two hours previously. They planned to enter and lure Radcliffe into meeting with them under the pretence of selling technology to him. Once they arranged the meeting they would try to establish whether Radcliffe was involved with Hydra or not. 

“Just remember,” Mack started, “This is a high class establishment so you’ve got to dress the part, no lab coats on this one.”

Jemma could not help but be offended, “Do you think scientists only wear lab coats?” she whispered dangerously. She felt a little satisfaction as Mack began to shrink, “Are we wearing them now?”

Fitz scoffed next to her, “You think we just walk around all day with goggles and gloves on?”

“Foolish man,” Elena said from behind Mack, “Simmons has nice clothes, should make this one weak at knees.” She winked at Fitz, his face began to glow. Jemma felt a little bit more confident for this, dressing up had always been out of her comfort zone and this was really her first time dressing up in front of Fitz since school. In truth she was looking forward to seeing him scrubbed up as well. Last time she saw Fitz in a full suit was at their academy graduation, she hadn’t fully appreciated it at the time. Fitz had filled out a lot since their academy days as well. His chest and shoulders were broader, his muscles more defined and his chin more square. Fitz truly had aged very well. Jemma knew she was with him for his mind and personality but the physique was a pleasant bonus.

“Sorry,” Mack said laughing a little, “Attire aside, me and Yoyo will be your backup if things get hostile. We’ll watch you the whole time on comms.”

“And we meet back here after we’re done,” Fitz added.

The plan was set and Jemma was feeling as confident as she could before a field assignment. She figured this would be fairly easy, all she had to do was chat to a Scottish scientist, she had been doing that for years.

“After you Dr Simmons,” Fitz said opening the door to the nightclub.

“Thank you Dr Fitz,” she replied brushing past him to go through the open door. 

“Elena was right about your clothes,” he whispered into her ear before switching on the comms in his glasses that linked them to Mack and Elena.

“Be careful,” Mack said in their ear pieces, “Most of the people in this room aren’t what they seem.”

Jemma scanned the room nervously. On the surface everyone there looked normal but as she knew from experience, look could be deceiving. 

“It feels like everybody is watching us,” she whispered to Fitz. He nodded silently.

He took a look over his shoulder before speaking, “I can’t see any sign of Radcliffe.”

“No,” Jemma replied, “Do you think we should ask?”

Fitz took a deep breath as if he was inhaling courage and then grabbed her hand, leading her over to a pair of large security guards, “No time like the present.”

His words were confident but the light clamminess to his hand told Jemma a different story. She was unsure if the slight shake she was feeling from him was nerves or remnant of his brain injury.

“We’re here to see Dr Radcliffe,” Fitz said bluntly to one of the stoic looking men.

Suddenly a very attractive and oddly robotic looking woman appeared in front of them. Her posture was perfect and her face emotionless, “Do you have an appointment with the doctor?”

Elena gasped into the comms, “This is not god’s image.”

“No it is not,” Mack agreed, clearly disturbed, “She has been modified in ways you wouldn’t even imagine.”

Jemma didn’t allow her mind to wonder what that meant.

“No,” Fitz explained to the strange woman, “We’re geneticists and we’re here to share some eye technology that we think he would be interested in.”

“I can take it to him,” the lady offered putting out a hand to accept the case that Fitz held.

Fitz put the case behind his back, “This is for Dr Radcliffe only,” he said firmly.

“Very well, take a seat and I will see if the Doctor is interested.”

Fitz bought them both a drink and they sat down in one of the lounge areas to scope out the room and observe for signs of Radcliffe. Jemma was acutely aware that Mack and Elena watched their every move and couldn’t help but feel self-conscious. She didn’t dare let her eyes linger on Fitz for too long, she wanted to look focused on the mission. It had been her one reservation about becoming romantically involved with him, it could risk their working relationship, but Jemma had concluded that he was worth that risk.

Fitz was very fidgety, spinning his glass in his hand and bouncing his legs, looking everywhere but at her, she could only imagine his thoughts were the same as hers. Jemma didn’t like being in this room, there were too many factors out of her control, she has no idea what everybody in here was capable of, a situation becoming all too familiar. For a brief moment they made eye contact and an unspoken message passed between them, Fitz’s next move did not surprise her.

“Mack we seem to be getting a lot of feedback on comms,” he said taking off his glasses,

“It’s fine my end,” Mack said surprised.

Jemma played along, “Oh it’s terribly load. Best we reset, back in a moment.”

She heard a faint protest from Mack before switching off the comms. Fitz cocked his head to one side and studied her for a moment.

“Are you alright, Jemma?” he asked quietly. It was only when asked the question that she realised she really wasn’t alright, he had always had a knack for knowing her emotions before she did, even since their academy days.

Jemma searched herself trying to locate the route of her unease. After a few seconds she pinpointed the source and it was something she had been supressing for several weeks, partially for Fitz’s benefit, “Our home is being invaded,” she was slightly ashamed of her own feelings but speaking them out loud was like a weight being lifted. Fitz didn’t say anything and waited for her to continue. “Well when I got back from that horrible planet Lincoln had moved onto the base. That was fine, just one extra person and I will admit her has proved very useful so far. Then we got Will back, and I am grateful that we could save him, you know I care for him but I didn’t think he was going to be around quite so much. It’s like having a constant reminder that I put you through hell breathing down my neck.” 

Fitz still didn’t say anything but he moved a little closer to her putting one arm on the back of the sofa around her took her hand with the other. The gentle smile he gave her told a tale of forgiveness.

“And now we have Elena and Joey to. They seem nice but I don’t like having people so close that I can’t trust. Especially people that could kill me in so many creative ways and Daisy is soon going to be adding to that group, I mean they’re out there today looking for inhumans off that Hydra list. And then to top it all off we’re harbouring a traitor that tried to kill us both more than once.”

Fitz nodded, “I’ve being trying to ignore the fact that Ward in the base, not an easy task.”

“I don’t even feel safe in my own bed anymore,” Jemma said quietly to her feet.

Fitz surprised her by chuckling, “Well I’m not going to complain about that,” he tucked a stray bit of hair behind her ear, “It’s been rather pleasant having you share with me.”

“Are you not sick of me shedding hair all over your bed and stealing all your clothes to sleep in?”

Fitz beamed at her, his eyes soft and warm, “No, and I never will be. In fact if you want we can make it a more permanent arrangement?”

Jemma felt her stomach summersault, she was about to answer when they were suddenly interrupted by the strange cyborg like woman.

“The doctor will see you now.”

Jemma swore internally, sometimes she couldn’t help but buy into Fitz’s curse theory. Reluctantly she switched her comms back on and followed the hostess.

They were lead through a hidden door, away from all the crowds.

“I don’t see this one the maps,” Elena said.

“That’s because it’s not,” Mack confirmed.

They continued into a room that resembled a dentist’s surgery, a man lay on a reclined chair, a sheet over his head that only exposed one of his eyes. Jemma did not like what she was seeing, her heart began to race.

“What is this?” Fitz blurted.

“The doctor would like to see if your technology works.”

“You want us to replace this man’s eye now?” Fitz questioned, sounding very alarmed. Jemma could not blame him.

“Just give us a moment to prepare,” Jemma said pulling Fitz over to one of the benches, “This is very…irregular,” she whispered.

“Well we’ve done worse than this for our employer,” Fitz muttered back, “A third opinion would be welcome.”

“I don’t know about this,” Mack said, “This could be a trap set up by Hydra. We don’t know who Radcliffe is batting for right now and that guy in the chair might not be a volunteer.”

“I think we’re going to have to play along,” Jemma sighed, “Hopefully we’ll figure this out without anybody getting hurt. At least we know the eyes are good.”

Fitz nodded and opened the briefcase.  
“Okay,” Jemma said pulling out an injection filled with local anaesthetic and approaching the stranger, “Let me just numb the area.”

However when she looked at the patients eye, two thing dawned on her, the first was that the face looked familiar and the second was that his was not a normal eye. She acted on pure instinct and jabbed the needle straight through the centre of his pupil.

“Jemma!” Fitz gasped from behind her. The patient granted and started to raise the chair, pulling the sheet off his face revealing himself to be Dr Radcliffe.

“What kind of sick game is this?” Jemma said repulsed.

“What’s going on?” Fitz exclaimed from behind her.

“It’s a prosthetic.”

Radcliffe pulled the needle from his eye, “Well you certainly weren’t afraid you were wrong. What tipped it?”

Jemma thought she could detect a note of admiration in his voice, “Mammals don’t have ciliary muscles in their vascular layer but that eye does, so what is it? Some kind of avian hybrid?”

“What? Why would you….?” Fitz stumbled over his words.

“Birds vision is superior to mammals. I was envious,” Radcliffe replied with a shrug.

Jemma felt herself becoming angry, she was getting very fed up with her life being unpredictable.

“Why not just be upfront with us?” she said trying to suppress her annoyance.

“I don’t know you,” he said simply, “I am very selective with who I work with. Speaking of which, you might as well show me this technology since I can see you don’t feel much like playing nice.” 

He gave Jemma an amused look which made her feel like not playing very nicely at all. She clenched her hands into fists and took a deep breathe. Radcliffe walked past Fitz and opened up the case and took a moment to look inside. Before Radcliffe was able to express his conclusion a loud bang caused them all to jump. A group of six heavily armoured men burst into the room, guns pointed at them.

“DOWN ON YOUR KNEES, HANDS ABOVE YOUR HEADS!” one of the men roared. Still in shock the three of them stayed on their feet, the hostess hovered silently by the door remaining fairly unseen.

“You’re Hydra,” Radcliffe spat at Fitz, “I knew I had seen that technology before.

“No, we’re SHEILD,” Jemma threw back at him.

“Hold tight,” Mack reassured them from down the comms, “We’re on our way.”

“Same thing.” Radcliffe retorted.   
Fitz put his hand on Jemma’s shoulder and applied pressure causing her to start slowly dropping onto her knees. He spoke calmly and quietly to Radcliffe, “Actually I think you’ll find Hydra are the one’s pointing guns at your head and SHIELD are your only hope of getting out of this.”

“The doctor comes with us,” barked one of the Hydra agents.

“Well at least we know he’s not Hydra,” Jemma said nodding towards the doctor.

“How sensitive are bird eyes?” Fitz asked. Jemma understood his plan straight away. She barely had time to put her hands over Radcliffe’s face before Fitz had pulled the flash grenade from his pocket and detonated it. Even with her eyes shut the light still dazzled her a little but not as much as the soldiers in front of them.

“Now,” Fitz shouted. He threw himself to his feet and barged past some of the men, knocking them off their feet. The hostess manged to strike another hard in the back of the head, knocking him out. Jemma pulled Radcliffe to his feet and dragged him behind Fitz, towards the exit. She was cursing herself for not picking up an ICER for this mission. 

Fitz stopped by the door waving them through, “Quickly,” he ordered.

Some of the soldiers began to fire their weapons blindly in their direction. Jemma felt a bullet fly past her. Fitz let out a cry of pain. Jemma’s heart stopped for a moment as he toppled over onto the ground.

“FITZ!” she screamed. 

She pushed Radcliffe to one side and ran towards him. Fitz clutched his arm but was stumbling back to his feet before Jemma had even reached him.

“I’m okay,” he said, his teeth gritted. “We have to move.”

Before Jemma could do anything Radcliffe had grabbed Fitz and had thrown his good arm over his shoulder, taking his weight.

“GO!” Radcliffe shouted over the gunshots. Jemma did as she was told and ran with them down the corridor, Fitz left a trail of blood behind them.

When they reached the bar Mack Elena burst through the front door. They could hear the Hydra agents right behind them. Elena flashed them a grin and readied herself. The second the men came into sight Elena disappeared into a blur.

In less time than it took to blink the men were disarmed. Mack rapidly fired an ICER at them all, taking them down one by one.

“Argghhh,” Fitz groaned loudly, succumbing to the gunshot wound on his arm. His face was pale and dripping with sweat, he dropped slowly to the floor, unable to stand any longer.

“Oh god Fitz,” Jemma said throwing herself down next to him.  
“He’ll be alright,” Radcliffe said looking straight into Jemma’s eyes.

The hostess appeared, quietly stepping over the unconscious soldiers.

“Go and get my kit,” Radcliffe demanded of her before pulling off his jacket and using it to press down on Fitz’s wound. Jemma felt a sudden burst of emotion for Radcliffe. She was so grateful to have someone else that could treat Fitz’s injuries. It was bad enough when she had to work on her friends but she wasn’t sure she would be able to detach enough to help Fitz.

“What happened?” Mack asked looking frightened.

“He took a bullet,” Jemma said almost crying now.

Mack shock his head, “Not sensible Turbo,” he said tutting.

Fitz grinned at him, “Sorry. Just thought Simmons would think I liked more macho with a sexy scar.”

“This is not a time for jokes,” Jemma scolded, tears finally falling from her eyes but she could feel the corners of her mouth twitching in spite of herself.

“Don’t worry,” Fitz said, looking intently at her, “Going to take more than being shot to get rid of me. Besides, someone has to keep you safe at night.” He gave her a little wink before scrunching up his face in pain again. 

Jemma was relieved to see the hostess return with a large silver briefcase. She handed it to him without a word also passing him a needle that Jemma recognised as the one she had shoved into his eye.

“Good call,” he said approvingly. Without hesitation he injected the fluid into Fitz’s arm, “I think the bullets still in there and this will make removing it a much more pleasant experience.”

“Thanks,” Fitz grunted.

Radcliffe grabbed a pair of gloves to put on before looking at his blood soaked hands, “Probably too late for those,” he threw the gloves to one side, “I assume you don’t have any blood borne diseases?”

“Only hepatitis,” Fitz replied.

“Oh haha. Now stay still, the aesthetic will take the edge off but this is still going to hurt like buggury. So let’s get this done quickly.” With no further bravado Radcliffe plunged a pair of forceps into Fitz’s arm. Fitz let out a roar of pain and lunged his free hand towards Radcliffe. Jemma quickly caught hold of him and used her weight to hold him still.

“Ta-da,” Radcliffe declared holding up the small bullet in triumph, “Right let’s get a few stiches put in there and you are good to go.”

Jemma continued to hold him as the doctor swiftly put in the stiches. She could see he had done this many times before. By the time he was done the floor Fitz laid on looked like something from a horror movie, blood smeared everyone, Fitz, Jemma and Radcliffe all covered. Jemma was confident he hadn’t lost enough to cause serious harm.

“Well that was super gross,” Mack said looking disgusted, “A nice reminder why I went into engineering and not medicine. Anyway let’s say we get Cannon Fodder onto the quinjet and go home, the clean-up crew will be here in a minute to sort out our sleeping Hydra friends.”

“Am I to gather that I’m coming with you?” Radcliffe asked getting to his feet.

“It’s for your own protection,” Jemma reassured him, still clinging to Fitz’s hand.

Radcliffe glanced down at his fellow Scotsman, “Okay then. Time to see what you lot at SHIELD really get up to.”


	6. Twisted Fire Starter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fitz is on the road to recovery whilst Will continues filling his ranks unnoticed by SHIELD. How long can Will hide his true nature?

*Daisy*

“Thanks for the update Mack, glad he’s going to be okay. We’ll see you back at base,” Daisy ended the call to Mack and gave a sigh of relief. She walked to the cockpit of the Quinjet where Agent May sat with Will Daniels. 

“I just got word from Mack,” she announced, “They managed to secure Dr Radcliffe. It got complicated when Hydra showed up but they all made it out.”

May glanced over her shoulder to Daisy, “Why can I feel a but coming?”

“Fitz got shot,” she said bluntly, knowing that May would appreciate her being direct, “He’s going to be fine though. It hit him in the arm, it might cause a little damage but nothing too serious. Simmons is taking care of him.”

“Good,” May said simply.

Will gave Daisy a strong look that sent a shiver down her spine and she instantly knew the information that he wanted.

“Looks like Radcliffe isn’t with Hydra either, in fact from what Mack said he was very much against Hydra. Seems like he’s going to be very useful with SHIELD.”

Will gave a subtle smile and a nod. Daisy was pleased to be giving him good news. Him being happy always made her feel so euphoric and at peace. It had been a good day. Not only had SHIELD taken a win against Hydra but Will had managed to bring a new inhuman to the fold. 

After finishing up with Will and May, Daisy walked to the cargo hold where Lincoln sat next to the containment module that held his friend and inhuman Alisha Whitley. Daisy had if course met and fought Alisha before and had been unsure how she would react to them taking her in. Will had managed to resolve any conflict quickly by giving her the understanding that he had gifted the secret warriors with.

“Sorry we have to keep you locked in,” Daisy said apologetically to her new sister, “We’ve got to keep up appearances. The world isn’t ready yet, people won’t get what we’re about.”

Alisha smiled at Daisy, “I understand, I’m just happy to be a part of this.”

“I don’t suppose you’re still in touch with anybody else from our community?” Lincoln asked.

“Not at the minute. I was pretty devastated after everything with Jiaying. I wanted to get away and find myself in the real world for a while. You know James might be a good person to track down. He stole a lot of stuff before he fled, he might have more information.”

“James!” Lincoln almost shouted, slapping himself on the forehead, “I can’t believe I forgot about that guy.”  
Daisy gave him a questioning look. She couldn’t remember ever meeting a James whilst at Afterlife and Jiaying had never mentioned anyone.

“James was a potential inhuman. He lived at Afterlife for a while,” Lincoln explained.

“Jiaying was never sure about him,” Alisha continued, “She stopped him going through terragenisis for a while but eventually James got impatient for his gift and stole a heap of stuff from her before fleeing Afterlife. He didn’t get hold of any crystals though so as far as we know he’s still only a potential.”

“We could help him with that,” Daisy said smiling, “I think he could be persuaded to join our team and share what he stole.”

“I’ll let Will know when we get back to the base,” Lincoln said with a wink.

“I’ll add him to the Hydra list so Coulson doesn’t ask questions. I can put him as unknown powers, there are a few of them already like that,” Daisy replied. They had gotten away with so much unquestioned, the needed to keep their tracks covered.

*Bobbi*

“How are you doing, war hero?” Bobbi said warmly to Fitz. Fitz had spent the previous night trapped in a bed in the medical ward. Bobbi had forced Simmons to take a break and go and have a shower, she had been stubborn but eventually gave in when Bobbi pointed out the left over mascara that had given her panda eyes.

“I’m not going to lie,” Fitz grumbled, “Being shot is not that fun.”

Bobbi subconsciously touched her left shoulder. The scarring from her own bullet wound had left the area oddly numb but the emotional pain wasn’t going anywhere, “I know the feeling,” she agreed, “Mack was very impressed by your bravery yesterday though. He said you were lying on the floor bleeding out and you were still able to make jokes and comfort Simmons.”

Fitz shrugged slightly, Bobbi knew that he hated compliments, he always brushed them away as if they it would burn him if it lingered too long, “Nothing that any of us would have done.”

“Fitz, you are an engineer, not an operator. We’ve all gone through years of training on how to divert pain and cope in these kinds of situations. You’ve not had any of that!”

Fitz looked down at his chest for a moment, “Simmons was falling apart, she needed me.”

“She’s lucky to have you.”

“Yes I am,” Simmons said quietly, from the doorway, her hair damp from her shower.

Bobbi laughed, “Well I think you have just set a new record for the quickest shower. I’ll leave you both to it. Good job both of you on securing Radcliffe by the way.” Bobbi gave them a small wave and left the room, she glanced over her shoulder for moment and caught a view of Simmons stroking Fitz’s hair. It was nice having their happiness on the base, their peace seemed to radiate around the team in a very soothing way.

Coulson had asked Bobbi to take care of Radcliffe whilst he was on the base, he had felt the doctor would respond well to a strong woman, Bobbi was happy to comply with this order, she had always enjoyed having power over men. Hunter was the exception to the rule, he had always given as good as he got with her, it’s what attracted her to him in the first place and also the reason why they had a difficult marriage. They were in a good place now though, her nearly dying had given them a lot of perspective. 

Bobbi entered the containment area of the base when a sudden bang on the glass made her spin round. Ward had wheeled himself over to the window of his cell.

“Agent Morse, could we have a chat please?” 

Bobbi felt hate boil up in her stomach.

“About what?” she growled unable to feign politeness.

Ward pointed across the corridor to Radcliffe’s cell, “I think I might know why Malik was interested in him.”

“And you’re just going to volunteer this information, what’s the catch?”

Ward’s brow furrowed, “I get it, you still don’t trust me, I know I deserve that but there’s nothing in this for me except maybe a little redemption.”

After what he had put them all through Bobbi could not bring herself to think he deserved any form of redemption at all, she laughed dryly, “You’re going to have to give us a lot of information for me to even think about forgiving you for what you’ve done to this team. You know I arrived here in the wake of it all. I saw them all broken and sad. I helped treat Fitz’s brain injury, you know he designed most of the equipment I use, it was heart breaking to see him not even able to string a sentence together. Then of course you tortured me and tried to kill Hunter. I’m not going to forget that easily.”

“You think I don’t know that? Do you think I can forgot? I was a monster!”

Bobbi was not going to stand there and listen to him wallowing in self-pity, “You have thirty seconds to give me this information and then I’m going,” she said bluntly.

Ward ran has fingers through his long stubble, clearly deciding if he even still wanted to speak to Bobbi but finally he did.

“Malik believed that he would eventually have to start creating more inhumans for this god he wanted. He was doing a lot of research into this and found Radcliffe’s name. He thought that perhaps his ability to modify humans might be useful in the process.”

Bobbi found herself slightly disarmed by this information, her anger softened by curiosity.

“Why did he want to create inhumans? That’s crazy.”

“He often spoke about creating an army for his god and he thought inhumans were the key to this. He believed that the god had a level of control over inhumans but the old texts around him never quite clarified how this worked but it was likely some sort of hive mind, like ants. If he’s still after the doctor no doubt this is still his plan.”

Slowly nodding, Bobbi processed this information, “That’s actually very help.”

“See look,” Ward said grinning, “We can have a decent conversation.”

Reality snapped back in, “Piss off,” she spat, turning on her heals and heading towards Radcliffe

It irritated Bobbi that even for a moment she forgot who Ward was. She could not allow herself to get sloppy with him, she couldn’t let him get under her skin. Composing herself, Bobbi entered Radcliffe’s room. The doctor gave her a pleasant smile,

“Agent Morse,” he said cheerfully, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

Bobbi couldn’t help but smile in return, he was such a contrast to Ward it was a breath of fresh air.

“Coulson thought you might fancy a break from containment, come and get some lunch in the common area, perhaps say hello to Fitzsimmons?” she said.

“How is the young Scot?” Radcliffe asked genuinely.

“Still in the medical ward but he’s recovering well. Simmons doesn’t think there’s going to be any lasting damage.

“Excellent, I’m glad. Fitz seems like one of the good guys,” he replied solemnly.

Bobbi nodded, Radcliffe had no idea how right he was.

“I’ve also just found some new information about what Hydra may have wanted you for. We can go and discuss it with Coulson before lunch.”

*Daisy*

After dropping Alisha off into the containment area Daisy was keen to get Coulson’s approval to head straight back out to secure James. But as she approached Coulson’s office she heard voices that made her slow down.

“Ward seems to think that Malik wants to create more inhumans,” she heard Bobbi explain.

“Is that even possible,” Coulson replied sounding a mix of shocked and disgusted.

Daisy didn’t recognise the voice that answered but the Scottish accent helped her conclude that it was the new Doctor.

“Well if they were created by the Kree like you’ve said then yes it’s possible. But with our technology we’re years away from being able to do anything like that, we’ve barely even mastered cloning DNA, let alone altering it to that scale. Hydra must be clutching at straws if they thought I could be of help to them. It’s an interesting concept though, but certainly not ethical. Why would they want to create more in the first place though?”

“Apparently Malik thinks that the inhuman god is like some overlord to inhumans, it can control them. Ward thinks Malik wants to make an army,” Bobbi explained.

It sickened Daisy that they thought her connection to Will was control, that he was an overlord. Will was not like that, he didn’t want an army, he wanted peace and a world that allowed inhumans to be free and unashamed. Will had been right, they weren’t ready to understand and as much as Daisy wanted to burst into the room and make them she knew that she couldn’t. So daisy took a few deep breaths, and knocked firmly on the office door.

“Come in,” Coulson called.

“Director,” Daisy greeted him formally, keeping up appearances in front of Radcliffe.

“Agent Johnson, have you met Doctor Radcliffe?”

Daisy held out a hand to shake Radcliffe’s who grasped hers enthusiastically, “I’ve heard a lot about you, your powers sound extraordinary.”

Daisy got a good vibe from Radcliffe, he wasn’t afraid of her, she liked that very much, “And I’ve heard what you did for Fitz. Thank you for that, he’s like family to me.”

Radcliffe nodded and gave a modest smile. Daisy took that as an end to their pleasant exchange and turned to Coulson, “We’ve brought Alisha Whitley in without a snag, she was a bit reluctant but we managed to persuade her it was for her own good. She’s down in containment now.”

“Perfect,” Coulson replied.

“She’s also provided us with information about the location of another inhuman, high up on Hydra’s list. A man named J.T James. He was a resident of afterlife but was banished after a disagreement with Jiaying. I would like to go with Lincoln and bring him in straight away, I don’t think we can afford to wait.”

“You sure you’re up for this? You’ve barely been back on the base for 5 minutes,” Coulson asked concerned.

“I’m sure. Don’t tell her I said this but I think May could use a break, she’s been none stop for the last few days,” Daisy added. It hard been hard on the last mission to get Alisha without May spotting what happened, they needed to put James through terragenisis, it would be even harder to get away with this.  
“I agree, I think she could use a break. Take a different pilot with you for this one. But once you come back I will be ordering you and your team to take a rest day,” Coulson said firmly.

“Yes sir,” Daisy smiled throwing him a mock salute. Daisy felt bad, she knew Coulson was worried about May at the moment, she was going through a lot with Andrew, Daisy had used that to her advantage.

Daisy shared the news to Will, Lincoln, Elena and Joey that they were heading back out again. They gathered the equipment they needed. Daisy hacked the storage records so they could take a case of terragensis crystals unnoticed , she was only going to take one but Will insisted that a case could be useful in case they found any other potentials later down the road. Daisy chose a newly trained pilot to accompany them, one with no field experience so they had an excuse to keep him on the quinjet and out of sight.

It was the middle of the day when they reached South Dakota, the air was cold and the trees were bare. Daisy wished she had packed a heavier coat than the thin combat jacket but her arm gauntlets released a gentle flow of warm air across her forearms and wrists taking the edge off the cold. She internally thanked Fitzsimmons.

“I don’t imagine James is going to roll out the red carpet for us,” Lincoln warned as they traipsed along the dirt track, “he didn’t exactly part from afterlife with fond farewells.”

Daisy looked over towards Will, he appeared calm as always, quietly watching a rat scuttle under a rock in front of him. It was always a pleasure to spend time away from the crowds with Will. Without the rest of the team breathing down their necks, Will could be himself, “I’m sure we can persuade him that we’re not his enemy.”

They could see James’s motorhome about a hundred metres away, Daisy could feel her excitement building, she was looking forward to having a new brother.

“I wonder what his power will be,” Joey said sharing her anticipation.

As they got even closer to the run down motorhome nerves began to mingle with Daisy’s excitement. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about playing a direct role in changing someone into an inhuman. Apparently sensing her thoughts Will stepped in front of her and placed a hand gently on each of her shoulders, staring so deeply into her eyes it was almost as if she could feel him within her soul, the rest of the group stopped and observed the interaction between them.

“You are having doubts?” he said in a soft low voice.

Daisy felt a pang of guilt, she was so loyal to Will, she hoped he knew that, “I just worry that we are interfering with nature,” she whispered quietly.

“I understand. This goes against everything you’ve been trained for at SHIELD, but we are the natural order. This beautiful, potential inhuman has been denied his gift by someone who doesn’t have the right, we are going to give him the life he is supposed to have.”

“Stinking Lincoln! And you’ve got yourself a new band of merry men!” the voice echoed out from the makeshift home.

“This one might require a little polishing though,” Will said giving Daisy a sarcastic smile. Daisy could not help but feel reassured, Will was right as he always was, whoever James was, he was meant to be more than just an average man.

“James, it’s been too long,” Lincoln called back. The door to the motorhome swung open revealing a grubby looking man with an unkempt beard, sporting a large double barrelled shotgun. 

“Elena,” Will said simply. Daisy felt the air move as Elena sped past her and in less than a blink of an eye James disarmed. A chain of explosions triggered through the earth between the group and James. As Elena sprang back to them she let out a cry and threw herself over Will, pushing him to ground. Daisy followed suit, throwing herself to the floor her arms over her face. 

“Is every one okay?” Joey called out once the dust had started to settle.

Lincoln was first back to his feet, he offered Daisy a hand, an angry look on his face, “Landmines! Really James? I knew you had issues but I didn’t realise you were this much of a psychopath!”

James stood on his front porch hands out in front of him in disbelief, “Bloody hell, what was that?”

Once Will had helped Elena to her feet he began walking slowly across the now uneven ground. Daisy wanted to call out to him and stop him, James was clearly dangerous, but she stopped herself, Will knew what he was doing.

“Good afternoon, James, I am very pleased to meet you,” he said too calmly considering they had just nearly been blown up.

“And who exactly are you, mate?” James demanded but a note of fear was detectable in his voice.

Will continued his slow approach, “I have had a lot of names over the many years I have lived. Some have called me Alveus, Devil, Hive, Hell-beast but for now I am Will. It’s a simple name but it is a name I have grown accustomed to, it’s a name with a strength, a sense of purpose. I will it, so it shall be.”

“What are you?” stepping back slowly until he bumped into the wall of the motorhome and could go no further. 

Will looked over his shoulder to Daisy, her heart skipped a beat at the intensity on his face but as quickly as he met her gaze he had snapped his focus back to James, “I am your destiny, you and I are part of the same grand scheme. You have been denied your purpose for too long.” Will pulled a crystal from his pocket and threw it to James. James’s reflexes kicked in and he caught the crystal without thought.

“What the….?” The hand that caught the crystal started to become consumed by the stone cocoon. Daisy could not quite place whether the look on James’s face was terror or elation, perhaps something in between. The cocoon took over his body quickly, consuming every inch of and then there was stillness. Daisy and the rest of the group stood transfixed to the spot, holding their breaths. For one wild moment Daisy began to panic that James was not an inhuman at all and they had sentenced him to death. But then suddenly the casing around James began to glow red hot, smoke and steam bubbling through the surface. With an almighty cry, James burst from his shell pieces of hot rock flying in all directions. Will did not flinch, despite his close proximity to the explosion. 

James began to panic, stumbling around, he grasped a nearby railing which instantly began to glow hot before exploding with a load bang.

“Help me!” James shouted, looking down on his own hands as if they were nuclear weapons. 

“Calm yourself,” Will said closing the gap between them.

“Stay back,” James tried to back off from will but stumbled and fell, igniting an ash tray. Will continued his approach until he was in touching distance of James, “Don’t get any closer, I don’t want to hurt you!” James shouted.

Will paused for a moment and then thrust his hands towards James releasing a flow of particles that seemed to consume James. As suddenly as it all began it was over. James lay on the floor breathing heavily, his eyes fixed on Will. Daisy knew what was going through his mind, that sense of adoration and belonging.

“Thank you,” he gasped, crawling up to his needs before his saviour, “Thank you so much.”

Will outstretched a hand, offering it to James to help him to his feet, “Since I have helped you, I was hoping you could help us?”

“Anything,” James whispered, accepting the hand and clambering to his feet.

“You stole some artefacts from Afterlife, we need them,” Will’s tone was firm and authoritative. 

“Of course, mate anything you need, come in, all of you,” James, beamed at the group and gestured them towards the small motorhome.

Lincoln caught Daisy’s eye and they both laughed, any tension that had been there was now long gone and now they had a new brother. 

“We’ll crack open a few beers tonight when we get back to base,” she said winking to him. Lincoln put an arm around Daisy’s shoulders and gave her a little squeeze.

When James had pulled out all the artefacts, including several ledgers and a Kree object that he had buried under his makeshift home, the joy Daisy could feel from Will filled her satisfyingly.

“Put it all in a suitcase,” he said smiling, “We’ll bring it in as James luggage and keep it all in Daisy’s bunk. Coulson is least likely to become suspicious.”

Daisy smiled, appreciating the trust that Will placed in her, “What do we need it all for?”

“Absolution,” Will replied simply.

*May*

“May?!”

She heard Coulson’s voice before she could see him and recognised the urgency. May pulled off her sparring gloves and briskly walked out of the gym to meet him.

“What is it, Phil?” she demanded of him.

Coulson hesitated briefly as if trying to find the right words, but when he spoke it was with purpose.

“Andrew has just handed himself over to two of our guards outside the base, they’re bringing him in.”

Of all the things she had expected him to say this was not one of them. 

“Is he-“

“He’s still Andrew,” Coulson reassured her before she could finish her sentence.

May felt herself becoming emotional, which was unacceptable, she needed a clear head, she needed to be objective.

“I’ll ask Fitzsimmons to prepare a containment module,” she said stoically.

Coulson put a hand on her shoulder, “There’s been one on standby for months, Fitz took care of it as soon as we found out about Andrew. Forget work for a moment, he told the guards he wants to come and say goodbye to you.”

“Goodbye?” the word seemed to burn her throat on the way out, she didn’t think goodbye was something she was ready to say to Andrew. May had never given up hope that they could rekindle their marriage, she missed the gentleness that he brought out of her, it provided a quiet and peaceful escape form her life as a SHIELD Agent.

May did all she could to brace herself for what was to come next. She was glad she had Phil beside her, there was nobody else on the base she trusted like him, she knew Phil could see her at her worst and not think any less of her. 

The walked the corridors of the base, it felt quieter than usual. The common areas were empty, the lab silent, letting off its usual eerie glow. Although evening was falling the hustle and bustle of SHIELD life would normally continue for a few more hours at least but May didn’t dwell on it, really it was better that there weren’t many people about.

The stood in the corridor in front of the main entrance. May was grateful that Coulson didn’t try to strike up a conversation, grateful that he knew her well enough that some things did not need to be said, she knew he was there for her, he didn’t need to say it.

No matter how much May braced herself nothing prepared her for when the doors open.

Andrew walked in slowly, his arms passively behind his head, four guards around him. He was unkempt, his usual stubble had begun to encroach on becoming a beard, his white t-shirt ripped and stained. What caught May off guard the most was how ill he looked, his skin was pasty and sweaty, his cheeks had lost some of their fullness and his eyes had almost yellowed, dark circles beneath them.

Even May was surprised by her reaction, she had expected to feel sad, frightened maybe even pleased to see him but what she had not counted on was the anger and resentment that boiled in her stomach.

“Why are you here?” she growled.

“I don’t have long, Lash is winning. I wanted to say goodbye whilst I still can,” Andrew said meeting her hard stare.

When May didn’t respond Andrew continued, “I also thought I’m was going to become a blood thirsty monster it would be best to do that somewhere where you have the technology to keep me from causing harm.”

“You’re a good man,” Coulson said nodding, “This was brave of you.”

“We’ll talk once we get you into containment,” May knew she was being blunt but her anger hadn’t quite resided, “We’ll take him from here,” she said dismissing the guards. She and Coulson took formation either side of Andrew and began their tense walk towards containment.

She had not expected the hanger doors to open before them, she had not expected Daisy and her team to be stood before them, she had not expected Andrew to lock eye’s with Will Daniel’s and begin to quiver….


	7. An Enemy Exposed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team discover an enemy within their own ranks.
> 
> This was a tough chapter for me to write, action has never been my strong suit but hopefully you'll all enjoy it all the same.

*Fitz*  
Fitz was glad to finally be allowed out of bed, desperate to get back to the lab and work again. It had taken all his skills of persuasion but Jemma had finally conceded that he was well enough. Her caring for him was both a blessing and a curse. Jemma had insisted that she escort him to the lab but had been diverted last second by Bobbi wanting to discuss so interesting forensic results from her last mission, “I’ll be with you in a minute,” she had said giving Fitz a brief peck on the cheek, “Don’t do anything silly”  
Fitz had intended in doing as he was told and enjoying the nice safety of the lab but what he was seeing in the corridor outside had rudely interrupted his plans.  
“He’s not who he says he is!” Andrew roared his body contorting, his skin changing from dark brown to an unearthly blue. May desperately clung to her ex husband, begging him to calm down and stay with her.  
“Melinda, get away, he’s dangerous,” he snarled  
Despite his pain, Andrew was transfixed on Will. Will stood unmoving, watching man transform, despite his fear Fitz could not help but notice how oddly calm Will looked, like he was studying an interesting painting. Daisy, Lincoln, Joey, Elena and a rough looking man that Fitz did not recognise stood around Will looking protective, ready for battle.  
Fitz desperately tried to make sense of what he was looking at. Lash didn’t seem threatened by any of the inhumans but instead was transfixed, almost fearful of the normal man in the group…. And suddenly then the penny dropped with a sickening thud and finally the situation made sense.  
“Coulson!” Fitz called down the corridor to the director who was now wrestling May away from a rapidly transforming Andrew. Coulson’s head snapped up.  
“It’s Will, he’s the ancient inhuman!” Fitz had a feeling what the consequences of his shout would be, he had seen the inhumans getting comfortable with Will over the last few weeks and he could see just how protective they were now. The force of Daisy’s blast threw him backwards across the lab and over a desk knocking glass vials and instruments everywhere. He fell painfully on his injured arm but now was not the time to be worrying about his healing gunshot wound. He scrambled to his feet, desperately aware that Daisy was closing in on him and Lincoln in pursuit.  
“Daisy please,” he gasped through heavy breaths.  
Daisy gave him a sad but frightening look, it was like looking upon the face of a stranger, he didn’t recognise this person.  
“You’re too clever for your own good, you should have just kept your mouth shut. They weren’t ready to hear the truth about Will, they won’t understand.”  
Fitz desperately felt around on the desk behind him and found what he was looking for. He had been working on an experimental smoke grenade and knew there was one on his desk somewhere, his hand closed on the tiny device. He gave Daisy a final chance to back off,  
“You don’t have to do this,” he called out to her, his voice cracking.  
“I don’t want to, but you’ve put Will at too much risk.”  
Fitz knew this was his que to act and with a swift movement he chucked the grenade towards Daisy. The smoke in the grenade went off with a loud bang and began to fill the room with a thick yellow smog. Fitz internally apologised to Jemma knowing the lab was going to need a serious clean but he could not bring himself to regret his decision. Fitz made the most of the temporary cover and charged away to find the others and get backup for Coulson and May, they were horribly outnumbered even if Lash decided to be on their side.  
Fitz paused briefly in his run and grabbed a couple of handguns and ICERS out of the weapons locker just outside the lab. He chanced a brief look over his shoulder, he didn’t seem to have been followed yet. The lights above him turned red, Coulson had triggered an emergency lockdown. Hopefully Jemma would know to hide and find somewhere safe.  
Fitz pelted into the containment area, a lot of the team where spending time on this part of the base and his luck was in, Mack was checking in on Alisha.  
“You’ve got to go and help Coulson and May outside the hanger,” he cried out shoving Mack with all the force he could muster with his uninjured arm.  
Mack gave him a startled look, “Slow down Turbo, what’s happening.”  
“Will’s the ancient inhuman and Daisy wants to kill me,” Fitz blurted out, there was no time to pull punches.  
Mack opened his mouth uselessly before finally speaking, “And the other inhumans?”  
“Looked about ready to die protecting Will,” Fitz replied, he knew Mack was mostly concerned with Elena, and he felt for him. Fitz held out one of the handguns. Mack didn’t speak, he seemed beyond speech, instead, he took the gun and started off with a run towards the hanger.  
“Let me out,” the familiar voice startled Fitz, in the chaos he had forgotten their prisoner.  
“Let me out,” Ward said again, “I can help.”  
Fitz let his eyes meet Ward’s and he was surprised by what he saw there. Ward was not demanding, no, he was pleading. Fitz found himself frozen to the spot, unsure of what to do, but a tremor under his feet snapped him back to reality.  
“How can I trust you?”  
“You can’t, but it seems you can’t trust anybody right now so you might as well take a shot on me,” Ward said bluntly. Fitz knew he was right, and besides, the situation couldn’t possibly get much worse.  
Fitz touched the control panel to the unit, unsure it would even work but it seemed the lockdown had granted him access. Before he had a chance to regret his decision, Ward had wheeled himself into the corridor and had taken one of the handguns Fitz held.  
Suddenly they were not the only people in the corridor, Joey and the new bearded inhuman rounded the corner.  
“Get behind me,” Ward barked. Fitz did as he was told, grasping the handles of his wheelchair, pulling Ward backwards. Ward began firing shots at Joey, but he outstretched his hands and melted them before they could make contact.  
“He’s bulletproof,” Fitz shouted.  
“Great, what about the other one,” Ward shouted back.  
Fitz ducked as a red hot piece of metal flew over his head, exploding like a grenade behind them, “I’ve no idea.”  
Ward changed his target.  
“James!” Joey cried out as Ward’s bullet entered the man’s gut, James fell to his knees clutching the wound. Joey rushed forward towards them. Ward again fired a few bullets but couldn’t get past Joey’s power. Fitz had not anticipated Joey’s next move, Ward’s wheel chair melted beneath him, spilling the legless man onto the floor. Fitz threw out the hardest punch he could muster, connecting with the inhumans jaw. At the same time, Ward struck the base of Joey’s knee which let out a sickening crunch. The two impacts forced Joey to the floor. Ward was about to strike again when a loud bang erupted next to Fitz, the heat of the explosion, scorching his leg. James was still awake and apparently still fighting. Fitz just had time to see him pull off his shoe and ignite it. Fitz grabbed the back of Ward’s shirt and dragged him away from the exploding projectile, Joey was not quite as lucky and appeared to be knocked out by the force. James slumped up against the wall, it seemed his fight was over as well.  
Fitz wasn’t quite ready to let his guard down though and dragged Ward further down the corridor around a corner to cover.  
“Get off me,” Ward growled, swatting at Fitz, “I’m not luggage.”  
Fitz released him feeling annoyed, “Well next time I’ll just let you get set on fire shall I?”  
“Well it wouldn’t be the first time!”  
Fitz was taken off guard by the amount of guilt that he felt, the scarring on Ward’s body was obvious to anybody but with everything going on Fitz had detached himself from being the cause of that scarring.  
“Sorry, no,” Ward said waving a dismissive hand, “You don’t need to feel guilty, I got what I deserved from you. Besides we have bigger things to worry about.”  
“Radcliffe’s not in his cell but James and Joey are down,” Daisy’s voice carried down the corridor.  
“Right ok,” Fitz bent down in front of Ward with his back to him, “Come on, quickly,” he whispered urgently.  
“You want to carry me,” Ward hissed back.

“Yes, now climb on before Daisy hears us.” 

“Fine,” Ward said reluctantly. He put his strong arms over Fitz’s shoulders, Fitz was aware of how easily he could put his arms around his neck but dismissed the thought and scoped up the remains of Ward’s legs, scooping them onto his hips. Fitz new he should have expected that but was shocked by how light he was, it certainly made running through the corridors with him much easier.

“We need to regroup with the others,” Fitz declared. He desperately wanted to go in search of Simmons but he knew there were two likely places she’d be. Either she had found somewhere safe to wait it all out, in which case he didn’t want to get her caught up in it all or more likely she was in the middle of the fight and in a lot of danger.

“You’re a lot stronger than I remember you being. You been working out?” Ward asked as they ran along.

Fitz didn’t stop, “Now’s not the time for flirting, besides I didn’t think I was your type,” he joked, panting slightly through the effort. The whole base trembling violently drew them both back into reality, “We need to get back in the fight, you up for this?”

“As long as my noble steed is,” Ward said rubbing Fitz’s head.

 

*Coulson 5 Minutes ago*

“Coulson!” Coulson’s head snapped up and he saw Fitz stood in the doorway of the lab, looking frightened, “It’s the Will, he’s the ancient inhuman!”

Coulson has struggling to process exactly what Fitz had just said, it didn’t make any sense and yet suddenly everything made sense. Will had been so keen to stay at SHIELD, he had clung on to everything inhuman he came into contact with and now Andrew had realised exactly what he was. Daisy threw a quake blast at Fitz throwing him across the lab. Coulson could not believe what he was seeing, he didn’t think Daisy was capable of hurting anybody on the team, but she was now pursuing Fitz, Lincoln close behind, he couldn’t go after them, he had May to worry about.

With a final roar Andrew’s transformation was complete and lash towering before them. With a swat of his large arm he flung May away from him knocking her and Coulson to the floor.

“Are you alright?” Coulson asked, aware he had fallen onto her.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” May spat jumping to her feet and taking her pistol from it’s holster.

Coulson followed suit after triggering a lockdown of the base using his prosthetic arm but he had no plan, he didn’t know who the enemy even was at this point, he was vaguely aware of a yellow smog erupting from the lab which meant Fitz was probably okay. Lash and Will stood, still and strong as if sizing each other up for a moment, Lash’s enormous shoulders heaving up and down with his growling breath. Will calmly and slowly, turned his head and whispered to Elena and then the same to Joey and James. For a second he stared again at Lash and then a gentle smirk creeped onto his lips, “Now.”

A rush of air shot past Coulson and May and their weapons were gone, Lash stumped as if he had taken a heavy blow, at the same time Joey and James started to run down the nearest corridor. Elena snapped back next to Will’s side but then disappeared again in a blur. This time lash was ready, he spun on the spot his arms outstretched, Elena let out a cry of pain and fell to the ground beside him. Lash bent down, his hand glowing, Coulson ran forward, he didn’t know who’s side Elena was on but he didn’t want to see a hole left in her chest. But lash did not kill her, instead he seemed to be drawing sand from out of her body. Will let out an angry cry,

“Thank you,” Elena whispered weakly, lifting a hand towards Lash’s alien face.

“You are free now,” Lash said calmly nodding. But the fight was far from over. Lash rose to this feet, rounding on Will. He began heavy foot steps towards his enemy, his pace increasing as he got nearer

“Lincoln, to my side,” Will demanded, “Daisy, help secure the doctor and Alisha.”

Lincoln appeared from the lab smog, coughing and spluttering, his eyes streaming but as he saw Lash, he threw a stream of electricity towards him. Lash was not affected and continued now charging at Will. He hit Will with such a force their bodies crashed through the thick hanger door, any normal man would have been killed in the impact, these were not normal men.

Elena stood up, propping herself up against the cold wall. Coulson hurried over to help her, May was hot on his heels, taking a defensive stance. He was glad she was there watching his back. They still had no idea what they were up against or how the rest of the team was doing.

“I’m sorry Director Coulson,” Elena said as her reached her.

“What happened to you?” Coulson asked taking her weight.

“It’s Will, he took control of us, I don’t know how. He made me do bad things but it didn’t feel bad. I don’t know what he is,” she explained hurriedly.

“But you’re on our side now?” Coulson asked. 

“Yes, I think so,” Elena nodded.

Coulson caught May’s eye and shrugged, “Good enough for me. Now let’s go and help Andrew, Elena you’re too weak to fight, get somewhere safe.”

Elena nodded, “Good call, I can’t risk being back under that monster’s control.”

“Sounds sensible,” Mack said appearing behind them, with Bobbi, Hunter and Simmons “So what about the other inhumans?”

“Enemies but not by choice. Non-lethal methods only. Will is the exception,” Coulson ordered directly.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Jemma whispered sounding tearful.

From inside the hanger Lash let out an enormous roar.

“Andrew,” May was on her feet and running before Coulson could stop her.

“There will be time to mourn later, right now we have to stop this getting any worse,” Coulson ordered the rest of the team.

Jemma nodded, looking determined. 

Bobbi gave Hunters hand a quick squeeze, Coulson knew a less observant man would have missed it, but he knew how much they meant to each other. 

With that they were ready for the fight and made their way to the hanger. It was in a state of complete carnage. Lash and Will were locked in an aggressive fight, Lash seemed to have the upper hand but each heavy strike he landed, Will seemed to shake off. He seemed immune to permanent damage. Lincoln fired a shot of electricity towards May who crouched behind a forklift.

“Lincoln stand down,” May ordered, “You’re out of your depth!”

“No, you need to stand down. Will has to live!” Lincoln shouted. Coulson noted the sound of desperation in his voice. 

“Get behind cover,” Coulson said to Simmons. He knew Simmons was much tougher in combat than she used to be but she really wasn’t trained for this kind of work. Simmons did as she was asked and ducked down behind an equipment rack, gun drawn. Coulson turned to Bobbi and Hunter,

“You two, get to May’s position and back her up, try and help Lash but watch out for Lincoln. Mack you’re with me, we’ll try and take his flank, get him off Andrew’s back.”

“Coulson!,” May called across the hanger, “ICERS don’t work on them.” 

Coulson swore internally, lethal force was not an option especially not with Daisy being in a vulnerable situation, not that he knew where Daisy was. 

He and Mack made their way round the edge of the hanger towards where Lincoln was taking cover. Lash picked up Will and slammed him into the side of a Quinjet. Coulson heard the sound of bones breaking but Will was back up on his feet a second later, punching Lash hard in the chest, causing him to stumble.

Once Lincoln was exposed to them Coulson took aim with his handgun, deciding that he could always aim for a non-lethal shot, desperate times called for desperate measures. Gun fire alerted him to May, Hunter and Bobbi who had taken advantage of a gap between Will and Lash to take a shot at Will, but once again he healed too quickly. A stray bullet went past Will and sailed within inches of Lincoln. He rolled out of the way, locking eye’s with Coulson and Mack. Coulson felt the electricity hit him before he felt it, it was like cramp had taken over ever muscle in his body, he was unable to stay on his feet and completely helpless. In the midst of his agony he saw Mack fall to his knees beside him.

“Lincoln stop,” Simmons had run out of her cover, taking aim at Lincoln, hands shaking. Her order worked and Lincoln let Coulson and Mack go, but the fight was only just starting.

“Jemma, I don’t want to hurt you, so I think you should put the gun on the ground.”

Daisy had entered the hanger unnoticed, alongside Alisha who was restraining Radcliffe and a pale looking Joey. Simmons did not do as she was asked however and turned on Daisy, weapon still raised, Coulson’s heart pounded they were surrounded, Lincoln one side, Daisy the other and a dangerous fight between Hive and Lash continued that they had no chance of getting through.

“We’re friends,” Simmons pleaded, “This is so wrong.”

Coulson scrambled to his feet, picking up his own weapon in the process and attempted to cover Simmons’s back from Lincoln, knowing full well that Lincoln could easily take him down again.

“You never did understand us,” Daisy said shaking her head, “You don’t trust inhumans.”

Simmons let out a short laugh, “Can you blame me? Look what you’re doing! For all know right now you’ve killed Fitz.”

Simmon’s was right, Coulson thought woefully, at this moment Daisy was an unknown, who knew how far she would go?

“Inhumans shouldn’t have to hide, we’re worth so much more. I’m sorry you’ve ended up in the way of that. We didn’t want that, we didn’t want you to get hurt. I think Fitz is okay but I can’t promise you will be if you don’t lower your weapon and let us go,” Daisy raised her arms, taking aim at Jemma.

*Fitz*

The sounds from the hanger were very disturbing, it was clear to Fitz this is where the fight was happening. Fitz ran as first as he could with Ward gripping onto his shoulders, he was desperate to help his friends.

The scene that confronted him in the hanger made his stomach sink. Coulson, Mack and Jemma had been surrounded. The fight between Lash and Will only vaguely registered in Fitz’s mind. He could not see much past Jemma stood so vulnerably a gun pointed at Daisy.

“let us go,” Daisy said raising her arms at Jemma.

“NO!” Fitz roared charging across the hanger at them but it was clear he was not going to make it. Ward pushed up off Fitz’s shoulders. Fitz reacted by instinct and thrust out his arms, propelling Ward forward. Just as Daisy began to set off a shockwave towards Jemma, Ward made contact. The force of his body hitting Daisy’s threw her off balance, both of them hitting the floor hard. Ward wrapped his strong arm around Daisy’s neck and flipped her over so she laid on top of him, her back to his chest, him holding her to the ground, Daisy struggling for breathe.

“Don’t kill her,” Coulson shouted.

“LET HER GO!” Lincoln bellowed, running out of his cover but Mack was too quick for him, landing a strong punch straight into Lincoln’s chest and knocking him to the ground.

The commotion seemed to attract Will’s attention. He quickly ducked under one of Lash’s strong arms that was heading towards his face and gave him a swift kick in the back of the knee. Lash fell to the ground, his face hitting an equipment rack hard. 

“Daisy,” he shouted calmly, “You know what to do.” 

Fitz froze to the spot, unsure what to do next. Bobbi and Hunter appeared at his side weapons ready but nothing could be done. Ward still holding onto her, Daisy channelled all of her power and caused the whole room to shake and tremble. The hanger roof started to crack, chunks of debris falling fast. The action caught the team off guard, leaving them defenceless. Lincoln was back on his feet and with Daisy, he sent a pulse of electricty at Ward forcing him to release her, Lincoln pulled her to her feet. Fitz threw his hands over his head, protecting himself from the falling roof. He reached Jemma, grabbing hold of her and clutching her close to him in a desperate attempt to protect them both.

Lash was back up, he looked shaken but still ready to fight, rubble falling around him. He strode purposefully towards Will.

“WE HAVE TO GO!” Lincoln’s voice was barely audible over the sound of debris crashing into the ground. Daisy let out one final attack, this one was aimed at Lash, it was not enough to hurt him but it unbalanced him enough for Will to take the advantage. Will pushed his foe under a falling piece of roof, pinning him to the ground.

“Get in the quinjet,” Will ordered his team. In the chaos there was nothing any of them could do to stop them. As Will, Daisy, Lincoln, Alisha, and Joey dragging Dr Radcliffe piled into the plane. Coulson desperately pressed buttons on his arm, trying to stop the plane.

“Daisy’s pushed me out of the system,” his voice cracked as he shouted across the still crumbling hanger, “Fitz can you do anything?”

Still clinging to Jemma and shielding themselves from the chaos, Fitz met Coulson’s eye and shook his head, he couldn’t bring himself to speak right now as the events slowly began to catch up with him. 

The quinjets engines started up, scattering dust all over, Fitz had flashbacks of the sandstorm on Maveth that he had waded through to save Jemma, the same feelings of desperation stirring in him now. But this was different, he had hope then, someone to save, but as the quinjet lifted off it was like hope was leaving with them.

The final bit of the hanger roof fell to the floor and the dust settled and the team picked themselves up. Fitz and Jemma helped Ward out from under the rubble, he was bruised but okay. 

Lash was a little worse off but still okay. His injuries seemed to make him docile and he accepted going into containment without a fuss. May had given up hope that he might become Andrew again but at least he was safe. Bobbi and Hunter found James near death still in place where Ward had shot him, Jemma did was she could and treated his wounds, he was then placed in containment to heal, until he came round it was unknown which team he was on.

Fitz had desperately helped Coulson to try and track the stolen quinjet but nothing worked, they were blocked out of the system, Daisy had clearly been preparing for this eventuality for a while. After several hours the remains of the team collapsed in the common lounge. A non-optional round of beers was deposited by Hunter.

“Take the edge off,” he said as he passed them around. Fitz noticed him pause as he reached Ward but he simply shrugged and handed him the bottle, “Weird day,” he mumbled so only Fitz could hear. 

“How did none of us see this coming?” Mack asked sounding more distressed than Fitz was used to, “Daisy is my partner and I didn’t even notice.”

“Well they’ve all been so hauled up with Will, none of us spent enough time with any of them to notice something was off,” Jemma said, Fitz thought he could detect a note of guilt in her voice, “If we had just left him on that awful planet, none of this would have happened.”

“Nobody blames you for this,” Bobbi said leaning towards Jemma but she was too far away to make contact, “You wanted to save someone you care about, there’s nothing wrong with that, besides you didn’t know. How could any of us have seen this coming?”

Elena nodded, "This is the devil's work not yours. Don't underestimate what he can do."

A bitter thought entered Fitz’s mind, a thought that revolved around resentment. He had gone through hell and back to go and get the man Jemma had a fling with behind his back and all to have that man hijack the minds of his friends nearly get them all killed. A glass down at Jemma who sat beside him dabbing her eyes with tissue was enough to soften him and banish those thoughts from him and make him feel ashamed for having them in first place. This was not, and never would be, her fault. Fitz placed a supportive hand on her keen and gave it a light squeeze.

“At least you all made it through, no mean feat up against a team of people powers not far from Avenger level,” Ward raised his bottle up in the air in a toast.

“I’ll second that,” Mack said approvingly, raising his bottle in turn. 

For a moment Fitz hesitated and lifted his beer in turn, nodding at Ward, “Thank you for today. I think the amount of times you tried to kill me and Simmons has been outweighed by the number of times you’ve saved one of us.”

Ward pursed his lips together and bowed his head, clearly touched by the gesture of good will from Fitz, “I don’t think you two need me about to save you anymore. You’re not the same pair of weedy scientists I meet on the bus, bickering about what to call your new weapon system.”

“We’ve been through a lot since then,” Jemma said simply.

Ward nodded, “Sorry about that.”

Fitz let out a fake cough, “Oh don’t flatter yourself, tough guy. Dropping us in the ocean, piece of cake compared to teleporting inhumans and portals to other planets.”

For a moment the heavy weight of the day disappeared as the room erupted with laughter, Ward wearing a look of disbelief mixed with amusement. Fit knew the laughter was temporary and the weight would return soon. Really, the fight was just beginning and the stakes were higher than he dared accept.


	8. Aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of Will's betrayal the team left behind pick up the pieces and some previously burnt bridges start to be patched up.
> 
> (There's a bit of Mackelena fan service in this chapter, I really felt like I've been neglecting Mack throughout this story so I thought I would give him a little treat. Huntingbird fans, don't worry, your time will come)

*Daisy*

The sun broke through the thin curtain in the early hours of the morning. Daisy awoke feeling hot and sticky, despite the only clothing on her being her underwear and bra. As she rolled over she felt the flesh on her legs peel away from Lincoln’s. Rising from the bed slowly, Daisy stretched out her arms, feeling the fight of the previous day straining through her muscles. Lincoln let out a small sigh and rolled over.

“Eugh, it’s too hot,” he grumbled.

They had landed just outside El Paso, Texas, late the previous night. The nearby mountain had proven a good area to keep the quinjet hidden and a nearby motel had provided them for something loosely described as accommodation. 

Daisy reluctantly washed herself in the mildew covered shower, the smell was unpleasant but the cool water was refreshing and made her feel lighter somehow. Daisy was happy to be with Will and the other Inhumans but the way she left her team mates at SHIELD left a knot in the pit of her stomach, she wanted to save them and she hoped more than anything that Will would find a way to help SHIELD. The way they had been exposed had never been the plan, Will wanted to offer salvation not start a war. Andrew had made everything so much more difficult and they had to act to protect themselves and everything they were working towards. What saddened Daisy the most was leaving James behind, she had no idea what happened to him although a part of her felt like he was okay and that they were still connected, a glimmer of hope. 

The shower curtain opened behind her and Lincoln stepped in to join her. He wrapped his toned arms around her waist and he trailed kisses across her shoulders and neck. Daisy let out a sigh and lent backwards allowing him to take some of her weight. 

“You okay?” he whispered into her ear.

“I’m with you, that’s enough for now,” she answered simply.

After their shower the pulled on some loose clothing and stepped outside to join the rest of the group in the heat of the burning sun but there was someone missing from the line up.

“Where’s Joey?” Daisy asked nobody in particular. 

Will was the one who answered, “He’s gone to secure us transport, we need something a little more inconspicuous than our quinjet, something SHIELD can’t track.”

“Very clever indeed,” Radcliffe said a little too enthusiastically, slapping Will on the back like a player on a football field. Will glanced over to him and silenced him with a simple sombre look. Radcliffe appeared to be a very strange man. Daisy expected anybody that had been captured to be frightened, uncooperative maybe even a little angry but Radcliffe just seemed to be going on for the ride. She wondered if perhaps the scientist in him was just curious to see where this all went, perhaps this was the same reason he didn’t particularly mind being brought in by Fitzsimmons in the first place.

The clattering growl of an old engine interrupted their conversation and Joey pulled up in a rusty old minibus with bars on the windows.

“That’s our transport?” Lincoln asked raising an eyebrow. 

Alisha made a disgusted noise, “He couldn’t have gotten us a nice SUV could he?”

Joey was beaming as he jumped out of the van, “This baby only cost me eight hundred dollars, I was on my way to the used car dealership and stumbled across a police auction. Nobody else put a bid in. It even came with a full tank of fuel!”

“Good work, Joey,” Will said throwing the rest of the team a stern look which prevented any further complaints, “This will do perfectly for keeping our profile low. You did well on the budget we have.”

“Yeah, well done,” Daisy said giving Joey a light hug. She remembered all too well what it was like to live without a home, every penny counted, it had taken years to save up and get her van. She felt a pang of longing for her old van that was still sat in the garage at SHEILD but she quickly dismissed the thought.

Lincoln gave one of the tyres a gentle kick, “So where’s the mystery machine going to be taking us?”

Will gave him a half smile, “I thought it was time I paid my dear brother a visit.”

*Fitz*

“Morning.”

The gentle voice made his eyes open, squinting in the bright light, his eyes focused on Jemma who was sat on the side of the bed, holding a cup of tea out as an offering. 

“What time is it?” Fitz grumbled sitting up, his voice apparently still asleep. The groggy feeling he had made him feel like he had been asleep a while but the lack of natural light in the room made it hard to guess.

Jemma placed the cup of tea on the cluttered bedside table, “Nine-thirty,” she said taking his hand.

“Ughh, why didn’t you wake me? I’ve got so much to do!”

Jemma cocked her head to one side and took his hand into hers, “Nothing that can’t wait a couple of hours, you looked peaceful and when the alarm didn’t wake you up and thought you must have needed the rest. Anyway I’m waking you now.”

Fitz was annoyed he had overslept but couldn’t help but be grateful for Jemma’s gentleness. He leant in and gave her a soft kiss. He kept it short and gentle, aware that he probably had horrible morning breathe.  
“Did the servers pick anything up overnight?” Fitz asked taking a sip of the tea she had so thoughtfully brought him.

Jemma shook her head, “No nothing, they’ve disappeared off the face of planet as far as our systems know. The good news is Elena is definitely back with us and hopefully will give us some leads, although I’m not going to count my chickens. So far she’s not been able to tell us much. Apparently Will kept most of his plans to himself and they were just made to go along with it.”

“That’s quite the power he has, Will I mean. To turn Daisy against us like that. The others I get, we barely knew them but Daisy. She’s been through so much with us, I thought she’d have been harder to sway,” Fitz lamented.

“Well judging by the withdrawal symptoms poor Elena is going through and the way James is presenting himself, this power he has, it’s stronger than even the most potent heroin. I doubt even Thor could resist it, that said it only seems to affect inhumans so not much of a problem for Asgardians,” Jemma explained.

Jemma was waffling, Fitz knew her well enough to know there was something going on under her smiley surface.

“How are you feeling about everything?” he asked wrapping an arm around her.

“Me?” Jemma asked in mock surprise, “I’m fine.”

“You’ve always been a terrible liar,” he whispered into her ear. In a motion somehow Jemma became smaller. She crossed her arms over her chest, her hands gripping to his as if she was clinging on for her life and her felt her begin to shake with tears. Fitz kissed her cheek and held her closer to his chest.

“Jemma, you’re allowed to grieve, I know what Will meant to you.”

Jemma let out a small whimpering nose before mustering up the strength to speak, Fitz did not interrupt, sensing that whatever she was going to say, she needed to say.

“So many terrible things have happened because of me. You spent months, putting your life on hold to get me back from that terrible place and I thanked you by rubbing some new man in your face and asking you to rescue him as well. You got tortured and then sent to that godforsaken planet where you had to set one of your old teammates on fire to escape in one piece. Meanwhile I let poor Dr Garner out of containment and allow him to kill a dozen innocent inhumans just to save my own skin, not even to mention the grief I caused May. The one and only good thing that came out of all of it was you managed to bring Will back home safely. But there’s the final joke in this whole messed up thing, Will gave up his life for little old me and instead we let a monster lose on this planet that has captured one of our best friends and has put the entire human race in danger.”

“I can’t offer you forgiveness,” Fitz said after absorbing her words, “Because you haven’t done anything that needs forgiving.” 

Jemma pushed his arms off from around her and stood up abruptly, her eyes were puffy and red but they had a wildness to them.

“I have been more than selfish and I am far beyond forgiveness whether you think I need it or not. People died, Fitz!” she was almost shouting at him now and it was enough to break his heart.

“You made a decision in the heat of the moment. We’ve all had to do it, weigh up the odds and make the best decision based on the circumstances. The choice you were given was an impossible one, those deaths are on Dr Garner, not you!” Fitz raised his voice to match hers as if speaking loudly would make the words sink in, “And who knows what would have happened if you had done nothing!”

“But what about everything I put you through? I saw the pain it caused! I saw the hurt everytime you looked at me!” she retorted, desperate to find fault in herself.

Fitz found himself rising to his feet, “It caused me pain because I saw how much it was upsetting you. You loved him, I get that and I don’t blame you for it. You don’t get to choose who you fall in love with! Do you think I would have chosen to love my neurotic lab partner who insisted on beating me in every single exam we ever took?!”

Jemma froze, mouth open, despite the redness of tears her eyes were open wide, “Did you just say you love me?” she said quietly.

Fitz closed the gap between them and took her hands into his, “Of course, how could that possibly be a surprise to you?” he laughed a little as he spoke.

Jemma sniffed a little, “I love you too,” she said nodding.

“I know,” Fitz said with a little wink, “I don’t know how you out did me in all those tests, clearly I’m far more observant….” Jemma cut him off with a firm kiss.

*Coulson*

Considering the difficult circumstances Coulson couldn’t fault his team, they all knew their roles and they worked hard despite the massive strain. Bobbi and Hunter were in charge of monitoring Hydra for any signs of anything untoward that was happening although Hydra had continued to be very under the radar but there was always a chance Will would want an alliance with them. Simmons would be working on understanding Will’s powers, running tests on James and trying to find a way to help him. Fitz was going to be working on trying to track Daisy down but this mostly going to be an automated server doing this work for him, leaving him free to work on a small side project That Coulson had approved. Coulson himself had to tricky task of working with Talbat and the ATCU and try and negotiate some kind of combined operation, nobody envied him having to explain the current situation to the very short fused general.

The General himself burst into Coulson’s office like a tornado at Dorothy’s house. 

“How on god’s green earth did all of this happen right under your nose, Coulson?” he roared from the opposite end of the corridor.

“Good morning General, perhaps you’d like to join me in my office?” Coulson said pleasantly, ignoring Talbat’s mood.

Talbat did not wait but continued his angry march right into Coulson’s office. The director counted to ten slowly on the short walk to his office, trying to keep himself calm.

“So what have you got to say for yourself?!” Talbat continued his onslaught as soon as the door was shut behind them.

“Absolutely nothing,” he said bluntly, he could almost see Talbat’s blood boil, “Nobody could have seen this coming. As far as we were concerned we were rescuing an American hero, Will Daniels, from a long term Hydra plot. He passed all our security checks and became an asset on the team, not a single member of my team was ever put in danger by him until yesterday. So with all due respect you can get your head off your high horse, stop pointing the finger and cooperate with me.”

Talbat exhaled deeply clearly supressing a lot of very unsavoury things he wanted to say to Coulson.

“Has Hydra reared its ugly head yet?” he asked, his voice shaking.

“Not yet, all our intelligence so far suggests they aren’t aware this inhuman is even back on our planet. I assume you read the report from out last mission, all their research still seems to be centred around Maveth.” Coulson said, grateful he could throw the general a bone.

“Well that’s something, hopefully they’ll stay nice and distracted. But how exactly are we going to stop this blasted devil character?” Talbat asked starting to calm down.

Coulson pulled up the camera feed for James on his monitor, “We captured one of Will’s minions in yesterday’s scuffle. Agent Simmons is working on finding out exactly how Will’s control works and potentially find a cure. As for the man himself, we don’t have an answer yet, he shrugged off bullet wounds and broken bones like they were nothing. We need to find a weakness but so far we have no leads on that except that Lash wasn’t vulnerable to him. I think in a fairer fight Lash might even be able to best him.”

“Lash is Agent May’s giant blue ex husband right?”

Coulson nodded, disapproving of Talbat’s description. He could only imagine the dirty look that May would be giving him right now, especially now it seemed that Andrew’s transformation seemed to have become permanent, “Fortunately Lash was quite cooperative in going into one of our containment units but that might have been due to being hit in the head several times.”

“Well the ATCU can help out, we’ll keep bringing in any of these pesky inhumans we can,” Talbat said frowning, “I’m still not happy about any of this and I’m going to be keeping a much closer eye on what you’re doing over here.”

“Goody,” Coulson said winking, “I do so love when you come to visit us.”

*Fitz*

 

Fitz admired his work, since making Coulson’s hand he had built several prototypes for other body parts in case other agents lost limbs in the field, he had never expected to need them so soon and certainly not for this but he was glad he had them ready. All he had needed to add was a couple of fail safes just in case.

“They’re beautiful,” Jemma said from behind him, “Some of your best work I think. Did Coulson give you a green light?”

“Yeah, the precautions I added clinched it for him,” Fitz bit his lip nervously before scooping up his latest project, “Best go and see and how the subject feels.”

“Good luck,” Jemma said smiling supportively.

Fitz walked slowly down the corridors to the living area. When he reached his target door he took a deep sigh before plucking up the courage to knock.

“It’s open,” Ward answered. Fitz placed the currently fleshless prosthetic legs against the wall outside the door and opened the door. Since Ward had proven valuable in the incident last night Coulson had decided it would be acceptable for him to live on the base outside of containment, he still had to wear a tracker and all his communications would be monitored but Ward was on the path to being trusted. 

“Settling in alright?” Fitz asked trying to make polite conversation.

Ward frowned a little at Fitz, no doubt trying to work out his motive for coming to see him but seemed to conclude that Fitz’s intentions were good, “I’m getting there, bathrooms a little difficult to negotiate in my chair but I’m getting used to it.”

Fitz nodded, unable to think of anything else to say he decided to get to the point, “Listen, I wanted to thank you properly for yesterday. If it wasn’t for you, me and Simmons might not have made it out it out of that one or the rest of the team for that matter.”

“I was glad to be of some use. I’ve not had to fight since my injuries so I must admit I wasn’t quite sure how much I was going to be able to help,” Ward said quietly.

“Well you did,” Fitz said sincerely, “Anyway I’ve been talking to Coulson and he approved me to build something for you that might make things a little easier.”

Ward furrowed his brow, Fitz could feel his eyes on him as he stepped out of the room picking up the legs he had built. Ward’s eyes opened widely when he saw them.

“They are built based on the same tech as Coulson’s hands,” he said, “You’ll need to have quick operation so that you can wear them but if you want to go ahead Simmons and the surgical team have some time this morning.”

Ward held out his hands and Fitz gave him a leg to inspect, “Fitz these are incredible, I had no idea you could build things like this.”

Fitz let out a chuckle, “You know I designed The Bus right? A couple of robotic limbs is no problem. Simmons was a big help, she did a lot of the nerve work for me to make them feel as real as possible. If you like them I’m happy to graft some synthetic skin onto them as well but I figured you could try them out first”

“My god, I’m glad your brain injury wasn’t permanent, the world would be a much darker place without your ideas,” Ward said almost at a whisper.

Fitz bowed his head a little sadly, “It is permanent,” he said, “I still sometimes struggle with my speech and my hands get tired very easily and I can’t really make a fist with my left hand. But I’m okay, I’ve learnt to live with it. Not a bad price really for still being alive.”

“Fitz I’m….”

“Don’t apologise again,” Fitz said pointing a scalding finger at Ward, “I’ve thought about that day a lot and it could definitely have gone worse. Me and Simmons got out alive, and Simmons was able to get Fury to Coulson and stop Garett. It was a good resolution in the end. Besides, what you don’t know is I finally managed to tell Simmons how I felt about her whilst we were stuck at the bottom of the ocean.”

“You did?” Ward said sounding impressed, “How’d she take it?”

Fitz smiled and shook his head, “Complete and utter shock, she was completely oblivious. Took us a while to get over that, specially whilst we were dealing with my recovery. It was easy from their though, all it took was a rival SHEILD infiltrating us, a war with a group on inhumans and rescuing Jemma from an unknown planet to win her over!”

“Wow you guys are such a cliché,” Ward laughed.

“Tell me about it,” Fitz said laughing too.

“All jokes apart though, I am happy for you. You and Simmons, anybody can see that you belong together,” Ward said genuinely.

“Thank you,” Fitz said meeting Ward’s eye, “But anyway, this is getting a little romantic for my taste, shall we go and get your new legs fitted?”

The surgery was quick and easy, Ward only needed an epidural to numb the area. The plates fitted to his legs easily and took to the nerves without issue.

“The epidural should wear off within the hour, you may feel a little pain but nothing too drastic but if it gets a bit much just let me know and I’ll fix you up with some pain relief,” Simmons explained. Fitz loved watching her work. He imagined if she had gone into the medical profession she would likely be a renowned surgeon by now, but thankfully SHIELD had plucked her up early.

After about forty minutes had passed Ward pressed the buzzer by his bed alerting Fitz and Simmons.

“I think it’s warn off now,” he explained when they reached him. Fitz started to feel excitement buzzing through him. 

“How are you feeling?” Jemma asked checking out his vitals.

“A little tender but fine,” he said shrugging.

Fitz grabbed the robotic looking legs, “Ready?” he asked simply.

Ward nodded, looking a little apprehensive. Fitz slotted on the first leg and twisting it so it locked into place and then the second.

“Just so you know I have built a safety measure into them, any SHIELD agent is able to disable them with a simple voice command,” Fitz explained calmly.

“That’s smart,” Ward said nodding.

The room filled with a silent tension as they waited for Ward’s reaction. Ward looked down over his new limbs, with a look of disbelief. Simmons let out a delighted squeak when he started to wiggle the toes. 

“Jesus, they feel so real,” Ward said now rolling the ankles around on both feet. Suddenly he lunged down and aggressively started scratching the right foot, “Oh my god, that’s been itchy for months!”

Fitz threw Simmons an alarmed look.

Simmons smiled at him, “Many amputees report pain and itching from their missing limbs. The nervous system is very complex and the way it copes can manifest strangely.” 

“Yep,” Ward confirmed looking euphoric, “That’s been driving me mad.”

Slowly Ward started to lower himself off the bed, placing his feet on the floor and tested putting his weight on them. Fitz and Simmons rushed to either side of him as he started to stand up. Ward took a little stumble but putting a hand on each of their shoulders steadied him. The three of them gingerly began to step forward together, Fitz could barely believe how quickly Ward was adjusting to the prosthetics. 

“I think I’ve got it,” Ward said laughing in disbelief. He broke away from Fitz and Simmons and began taking independent steps, each stride becoming longer and more confident until he was walking very normally. Suddenly Ward was jogging, he ran out of the room, down the short corridor and back again, laughing manically the entire time. Then he came to an abrupt stop, the next thing that happened took Fitz completely off guard. Ward strode towards them and threw his strong arms around them pulling them into a tight embrace, he was shaking with emotion.

“Thank you both so much,” he said thickly through tears, “I never thought I would walk again.”

Fitz was lost for words, he had never expected to have Ward crying on his shoulder. Thankfully Jemma spoke for them both,

“You are quite welcome.”

*Mack*

As Mack walked past medical towards the containment area he was a little surprised to spot FitzSimmons hugging Grant Ward and slightly more surprised to see Ward standing up on to robotic looking legs, clearly Fitz’s work. Mack let out a sigh, hoping that they were doing the right thing. Ward had a lot to answer for but maybe he wasn’t beyond redemption, Mack wasn’t quite ready to let his guard down yet. He commended the two scientists and their power to forgive, it really was quite admirable.

He knocked on the window of the containment module that held Elena, she was huddled up in a thick blanket, shaking uncontrollably. She looked up at him and nodded her head, indicating that he could come in.

“How are you feeling today, Yoyo?” he asked her sympathetically. 

Elena shrugged from under her blanket, “Oh you know, I’m freezing cold and I can’t stop sweating. On the plus side I’ve gone a whole fifty minutes without vomiting.”

“Well I know it’s no consolation but Simmons reckons the worst of this will be over in a couple more days. You weren’t being under Will’s influence for long. But putting the withdrawal symptoms aside, how are you?” Mack said putting emphasis on the last word.

Elena glanced down the corridor, “It helps to remember it could be worse,” she said sincerely.

Mack followed her eye line and saw May sat on the floor outside Andrew’s containment. She was unmoving, almost beyond emotion.

“But,” Elena continued, “I can’t help but feel weak. I’ve spent my whole life thinking I was doing right by God but I succumbed to the devil so easily.”

Mack sat down on the bed beside her and put an arm around her shoulder, “Listen, that monster, as powerful as he is, he’s not the devil. He’s just a man with too much power that we need to stop. I think we’re on the earth to be tested, and Lord knows I have been, perhaps this is your great test.”

Elena nodded, “Maybe,” she said simply, considering what Mack had said to her.

“Anyway,” Mack said standing up and offering a hand to Elena, “No point moping, I have a surprise for you and before you ask I got Coulson’s permission to let you out just for a bit.”

Elena didn’t accept the offer of his hand but instead looked up at him blankly. Mack hadn’t quite anticipated her not wanting to go with him.

“What’s wrong?” he asked bluntly.

Elena hesitated for a moment, “What is I throw up in the corridor?” she said quietly.

Mack couldn’t help but laugh, “If you throw up I’ll get one of the level one’s to do some mop training. Now come on before you ruin the surprise.”

Mack was elated when Elena finally reached up and took his hand, she let her blanket fall behind her onto the bed. Mack felt rude for noticing but there was an unpleasant odour of stale sweat to her, but by the moisture that soaked her clothes this was unsurprising. Her hair was untidy, clearly not been brushed and her skin had a paleness to it. Despite all this Mack still got a thrill from seeing her. This for him solidified that his attraction to her was not just physical, he really wanted to take care of her however much he could and he wanted to be the best version of himself for her. He knew however he was getting ahead of himself, Elena had been through something terrible, she was not with SHIELD by choice and it was very likely after everything she wouldn’t want to stay so Mack satisfied himself by deciding to enjoy being in her company whilst he could.

He guided her into Coulson’s bedroom, Elena said nothing but frowned over her shoulder at him, Mack retaliated with his best innocent smile and guided her to the en-suite. Elena gasped.

“This is the only bathtub on the entire base,” he said, grinning like a fool but unable to stop himself. He hadn’t held back when he had gotten the room ready for her. He had run her a lovely warm bath, filled with muscle relaxing bubble bath (a formula Simmons had mixed for Coulson after he lost his hand). Mack had managed to convince to Bobbi to give him a few vanilla scented candles which he had lit around the bath. The finishing touch was the dimmed lights and soft acoustic guitar music flowing out the speakers in the room.

Elena looked up at him wide eyed, “Mack,” she whispered, “I can’t believe you…..” but her sentence was cut short as she had begun to sob quietly.

“Sorry,” Mack said quickly, “Have I done something wrong? I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Elena shook her head, “Not upset. Just taken by surprise. I wasn’t expecting such kindness. This is wonderful, thank you.”

Mack nodded, “Anytime. I’ll leave you to it, just let me know when you’re done.”

“Stay,” Elena said quickly. 

Mack’s heart skipped a beat. “Pardon?”

“Please stay,” she said again confirming that Mack had indeed heard her correctly, “My muscles are so tired, I don’t know if I’ll be able to get in and out alone. It’s such a lovely gesture I’d hate to ruin it by drowning.”

“You sure?” Mack asked feeling his face growing hot, “I can go and get Bobbi if you’d prefer.”

“I trust you,” she said solemnly.

So Mack did as he was asked and stayed. He played the gentleman and turned away whilst she slipped out of her pyjamas, supressing any urge he had to look upon her. 

“Please?” she asked him. Mack looked around to her trying to avoid looking directly at her. “Do you think you can lift me in?” she asked quietly, a note of shyness in her voice but not as much as Mack would have expected given the circumstances. Her self-confidence was rather appealing.

Mack didn’t speak but walked towards her slowly, still trying to not look directly at her like he feared she would break if he did. When he was next to her he carefully bent down, looking nowhere but into her eyes, scooping her up into his strong arms. Despite the sheen and dampness of sweat, her skin felt so soft and smooth on his rough hands. He was vaguely aware of her chest brushing gentle against his own but did not allow himself to thing about this too much instead now focusing on the hot bath. He gently lowered her trembling body into the water, she let put a soft groan as her flesh made contact with the warmth. Once she was fully submerged he slipped his arms out from underneath her. He knew in his younger days he would have undoubtedly have been aroused, seeing this beautiful woman, naked in a hot soapy bath and there was no doubt that she was beautiful but something about the situation kept his baser instincts in check, perhaps it was the trust she was placing in him or maybe a sense of duty or maybe it was simply his feelings for Elena spread deeper than a physical attraction, he had not allowed himself to feel like this for anybody since Nicole, not daring to get close in case his world shattered under his feet again. The world had certainly come close to shattering the previous day as he watched the team get torn apart.

Elena dipped her head under the water and soaked her long hair before reaching for a bottle of shampoo from the side of the bath, “I’m not complaining but why do you think the director has this? It’s not like he has a lot of hair to wash.”

Mack let out a deep chuckle, “He is a bit of a ladies man. He has a different woman here every week.”

Elena let out a gasp, “Really?!”

Mack laughed even harder, “No, I burrowed that from Bobbi, but I love that you believed me. I’ll have to tell Coulson how much faith you have in his pulling power.”

Mack was too slow to avoid splash of water the flicked towards his face, “Stop making stupid jokes and help me wash my hair,” she ordered him. Mack was pleased to her the bounce returning to her voice, clearly the bath was doing the job and helping her feel better. Taking the shampoo from her he shifted his weight so he was sat at the head of the bath. They didn’t speak whilst he lathered shampoo into his hands and then through her hair, she let out a soft sigh as he massaged it into her scalp. It was a very intimate moment for Mack, he was surprised by how comfortable he felt considering how shorter time they had known each other for.

“Oh no!” Elena said suddenly, sitting bolt upright in the bath, “Going to be sick.”

Mack jumped to his feet, searching the bathroom wildly for a bowl or tub. His eyes locked on a black washbag. Quickly he snatched it up, spilling the contents into the sink and throwing to Elena. She caught it just in time to vomit noisily into it. When she was done she zipped the bag up with as much dignity as she could muster and handed it back to Mack who couldn’t help but smile.

“Well this is the first time I have ever been handed a bag of sick,” he mused, tossing the bag into the bin that sat in the corner of the room.

With a groan of embarrassment, Elena dipped her head back under the water, washing out the soap. Mack was still smiling when she emerged. He took his place, sat down beside the bath again.

They stayed like this for a while longer, chatting ideally, laughing and joking. Mack did his best to keep the conversation as light as he could, no doubt Simmons would be interrogating Elena again later on about what happened with Will. 

Finally, she had enough in the water. Mack dutifully fetched her a towel and gently lifted her out of the water, soaking himself in the process but he was incapable of caring. Once he lowered her onto her feet she wrapped the towel around herself. It only felt right to Mack that he turn away from her whilst she pulled on a fresh set of pyjamas. She held Mack’s arm and walked quietly back through the base to Elena’s containment room. Once back on her bed she once again cocooned herself in blankets, Mack sat in a small chair opposite her.

“Thank you Agent Mackenzie,” she said smiling.

“Anytime Yoyo,” he smiled at her.

Elena gave him a curious a look for a moment before she finally spoke, “Perhaps when I can keep the contents of my stomach where they belong I could return the favour, take you out for dinner sometime.”

This took Mack slightly off guard, he’d never had a woman ask him out for dinner, he’d always had to make the first move, “I’d like that very much.”

“It’s a date,” Elena said smiling.

 

*Daisy*

By the time they reached their destination in California night was already falling. They had all taken their share of the drive and the former prison bus held out okay. Will had continued to be cryptic about where exactly they were going. Daisy had researched Will Daniel’s file before SHIELD had brought him back from that planet and according to her research he’d been an only child. When Daisy had questioned this, Will had simply replied, “My life is shared by many.” Daisy concluded they must be going to see a brother of a former host but she knew not to press Will further and found herself satisfied with his secrecy, trusting that he had his reasons.

Lincoln pulled up at the grand gates, “Is this it?” he asked Will who sat in the passenger’s seat beside him.

“Yes,” he said smiling slightly, “Joey, perhaps you could open the gates for us?”

Joey stood up and stretched out the stiffness of the journey, “My pleasure.” With that he hopped out the side door of the bus and approached the gates. The way he melted them was satisfying to watch. He was becoming an artist with his power and by the time he was done the huge gates were two perfectly formed spheres on the floor. Joey grinned back at Will but his joy was short lived as a loud alarm sounded somewhere in the grounds behind the gates. They could hear the sounds of men shouting, no doubt getting ready to defend whatever laid beyond. Daisy jumped to her feet, ready to defend her new family but Will stopped her with a shake of his head. He got out of the bus himself sent Joey back inside.

Daisy heart began to pound as a dozen heavily armed men approached Will. Will stood his ground, unflinching and unmoving.

“IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” one of the armed soldiers roared.

Will spread his arms wide, allowing the armed men to draw closer to him.

“I’ve come to pay my big brother a visit,” he called out causally.

One of the men laughed, “Have you now? And who might your brother be?”

Will looked back over his shoulder for a moment giving Daisy a brief smile that sent a chill down her spine, before turning back to the soldiers.

“Gideon Malik. I think he’ll be pleased to see me.”

Daisy took in a sharp breathe.


	9. Hail Hydra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Malik meets his god at last.

Will felt a strange sense of comfort as he strolled through the mansion. The armed soldiers that surrounded him and the other inhumans were of no concern to him. Guns were meaningless and petty compared to the power of himself and his followers but that was the ignorance of man, thinking that their weapons were enough to protect them. Will hoped that they would not be so stupid as to try anything, he took no pleasure in killing but sometimes it was necessary to protect those of a higher importance. There was however one man amongst the armed guards that had caught Will’s curiosity, despite the darkness of night he wore a pair of sunglasses, he also had a look to him that made Will believe he was not American, perhaps he was Mexican or Columbian. Now was not the time to ask but Will knew there was something more to him.

Will could sense Daisy’s nerves behind him. Of course for a SHIELD agent being in the home of the head of Hydra was not a pleasant experience however she was loyal and she would not waver in her trust of him and an explanation would come to her in due time. There were matters that had to be settled with Malick, matters of great importance that could set them on a glorious course.

The group reached a large dining room that Will knew well. Many of his hosts had sat in this room across many generations, but there was one particular host that Will was channelling his thoughts through at this moment.

The doors of the dining room swung open and Gideon Malick stepped in, a furious look on his face, a glance around the room increased its intensity.

“Would anybody like to enlighten me as to why I have been woken up, informed that my deceased brother was here and why you’ve let Daisy Johnson, a rather powerful SHIELD agent into my home?”

His tone was oddly calm like a low rumble before a storm but rage seethed out of every pore in his body. Sensing it was the right moment, Will rose to his feet.

“Gideon,” he said smiling and outstretching his arms, “It’s been such a long time.”

“Your face, you look familiar but I don’t know why, I can’t place you,” Gideon said studying Will closely. 

“This face belongs to nobody, just a man you sacrificed for the greater good. You saw this face about fourteen years ago before you sent him marching through the monolith. He was insignificant, a pawn in the larger game, our game brother.”

The tension in the room was thick and Will could feel his comrades fear and nervousness but none of them acted as he knew they wouldn’t. Will needed them to remain quiet and unmoving so that is what they would do. For a moment Malick was silent, absorbing the information Will had given him. Finally a single word formed in his mouth, “Nate?”

Will nodded and gave a half smile, “I think we have a lot of catching up to do.”

The conversation between the two men lasted several hours. Will told Malick everything of his journey, from his encounter with the Kree up to the present day. Malick listened avidly, not interrupting, clearly pleased that his life’s work was coming to fruition and perhaps he would finally get the power he craved. From what Will new of the man that was in front of him, he was not so sure such an alliance would be possible but he may yet prove himself useful.

“So you really remember Nathaniel’s life?” Malick asked once Will had finished his story.

“I remember the lives of all the bodies I have shared. But being here, Nathaniel has clawed his way to the surface, we are one at present,” Will explained. 

Malick looked nervous, rubbing his hands together, “Do you remember the day Nate went through the Monolith?”

“Yes,” Will said bluntly, “But I forgive you. I see what you have built here, we all played our parts.”

Will could not ignore the way Malick’s eyes moistened at his words, “You forgive…..”

Very cautiously Will reached out with his arm and placed onto Malick’s shoulder giving it a gentle squeeze. The gesture seemed to have the desired effect of being familiar and comforting as Malick let a small smile creep onto his face.

“There is much work to be done though brother,” Will said smiling with him, “Before we had to leave SHIELD we were watching you. Daisy uncovered the fact that you have been bringing in inhumans, collecting them for me.”

“I’ll take you to the location first thing in the morning. For now, please all make yourselves comfortable. There are plenty of rooms upstairs.”

*Hunter*

Once word had reached them that a SHIELD quinjet had been located in El Paso, Bobbi and Hunter had been scrambled immediately to investigate. They couldn’t take a plane as Coulson was concerned about how much Daisy was watching them. Fitz was good with computers and all that hacking stuff but Daisy was far better so keeping off the grid was the only choice they had. It had been a long drive but at least they had been allowed to take an Acura, which was a much smoother and more satisfying ride than one the standard all terrain cars. 

It was the early hours of the morning by the time they reached the base of the mountain, they were exhausted but they didn’t have time to be tired. They both threw their packs over their shoulders and began the gruelling climb.

“At least it’s still dark,” Hunter lamented to Bobbi, “This would be a real nightmare in the heat.” 

“It’s a nightmare already. There’s no doubt that we are on a wild goose chase right now. Even if we do find them we’re grossly underpowered so it’s not like we can stop them,” Bobbi retorted.

Hunter knew she was right but he couldn’t bring himself to begrudge the fool’s errand they had been sent on too much. The base was a tense place to be right now. The team were almost in a state of morning for Daisy and the other inhumans and now Grant Ward was swanning around on his new legs like he owned the place. The others might have started trusting him but Hunter was not sure he was quite ready. Bobbi had almost died because of him, Hunter struggled for forgiveness at the best of times but even less so with people that tried to hurt the people he cared about.

“Do you really think that Daisy is against us?” Hunter said, suddenly breaking the silence.

Bobbi continued trudging forward for a moment before answering, “Honestly, I don’t think any of them are against us. A group of highly powered inhumans broke out of our base and stole one of our planes and nobody died or even sustained lasting injuries. Even towards the end of the fight Daisy was still insisting that she and Simmons are friends.”

“Well they didn’t seem that friendly either,” Hunter retorted sourly.

“Nope, definitely not friendly but I think we all just got in the way. If we were to leave them alone I don’t think they’d come after us. The problem is we can’t leave them alone, we have no clue what their end game is right now.”

Hunter mulled over Bobbi’s observations and could only conclude that she was right. Lincoln was powerful enough to stop any of their hearts with one quick zap but all he had done was subdue Coulson. If they had wanted to dig their heals in and take done SHIELD it would have been any easy job. 

The rest of their hike went by without too much difficulty, fortunately the quinjet wasn’t quite at the peak of the mountain but in a large gulley between them. The sun had begun to rise but the altitude made the air cooler, crisp and refreshing. 

The both pulled out their weapons and quietly stepped onto the plane but as expected the found it completely empty. 

“Surprise, surprise, they’ve already buggered off,” Hunter said dryly, “Well at least we get to fly back to base this time.”

“It takes the asset away from Will as well,” Bobbi said digging for a positive in their fruitless mission, “I’m going to call Coulson.” Bobbi stepped outside to make the call. 

Hunter spent a few moments digging around through the quinjet, seeing if he could find any clues of where Will and his minions might be gone but the plane had been completely emptied of anything useful. He followed Bobbi outside and was slightly taken aback from the sight that was in front of him. She stood with her back to him but the orange sunlight danced off her blonde hair, the slight sheen of sweat on her skin made her glow in a way that was almost angelic and the pink, cloud dotted sky framed her beautifully. Just for a moment Hunter was thrown back to the day he met her in Dubai. She was as beautiful now as she was then and Hunter continued to be on awe of her, sometimes he worried he didn’t tell her enough.

Bobbi ended the call with Coulson and rubbed her hands across the back of her neck, stretching out the tightness of her muscles, the scar on her shoulder catching the light. 

“You alright love?” Hunter whispered quietly as he reached her side, slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her close. Her head dropped onto his shoulder and for just the briefest of moments they were a normal couple just watching the sunrise.

“I think alright sums it up well right now,” she said calmly, “I’m not happy, I’m not angry, I just kind of am,” she whispered back to him.

“I know the feeling,” he replied, “But it could be worse. Some woman dream of being stuck up a mountain in Texas with their ex-husband.”

Bobbi let out a short laugh before turning her head and giving him a gentle kiss, “I think we need to sort out our titles, ex doesn’t work for me anymore.”

*Daisy*

Daisy felt a lot of unease being so close to the head of Hydra. It was no secret that she had no love for Malick and from the nervous looks he kept throwing at her, she assumed the feeling was quite mutual. Today however they were no longer SHIELD and Hydra but Will’s allies, working together the help him reach his true purpose.

One definite perk to being on side with Malick is they no longer had to travel in the musty of prison bus. Malick arranged for his own private cars to collect them all and transport them to wherever it was that he had been gathering inhumans.

They arrived, after about an hour on the road, at a small unassuming looking office building. To the untrained eye it looked like nothing. A few men and women in suits walked in and out of the front doors, coffee cups in hand, cell phones to their ears, briefcases swinging beside them. But Daisy knew better than this, after all SHIELD had a whole labyrinth of base hidden underneath a major city that nobody had a clue was there. Daisy’s suspicions were confirmed after they were led into a large elevator. Two security guards stood either side of the door, one look at Malick signalled them to draw two small keys and insert them into identical locks. Malick gave them an approving nod before he pressed the button for the basement.

When the doors opened they found themselves in large, high ceilinged room. It was not unlike the hanger back at the playground which caused Daisy to feel a small pang of homesickness. Will glanced over at her for a fraction of her second and small knot in her stomach quickly evaporated. Quite suddenly however, Daisy found herself seething with anger, Lincoln grasped her hand, tension running through his body.

“They are in cages.” Will’s voice was calm and steady but there was something beneath the surface and the inhumans all felt it at once. One glance around the room gave sense to Will’s sobering words. Containment modules, very similar to those used by SHIELD lined the walls of the room, about a dozen in total, but only two of held anybody, all of them looking pale and frightened. Daisy’s eyes met with one of the prisoners, he was short and old, his hair was a mess and his beard untamed. Just to look at he could have blended well on a street corner in a crowded city, just another homeless face. There was something in this man’s eyes that struck Daisy, his eyes were pleading but not to be saved, to be left alone.

“They has been a mix of powers in these containment modules they are safe and so are we. It’s a temporary measure until we could bring you to them,” Malik explained calmly and finally Daisy realised that Malik had inhumans imprisoned.

“A dog does not cage a man. Release them,” Will said quietly and dangerously.

Malik’s mouth opened but he seemed to think better of arguing and instead waved an arm up to signal his guards to comply with Will’s demand. The hydraulic doors of the modules opened slowly, the homeless looking man, and one woman stepped out.

Will cocked his head to one side and smiled before throwing out his arms as Daisy had seen so many times before. Sand erupted from Will’s hands and consumed the three startled looking inhumans before them. Malik stood in awe, hardly believing what he was seeing. As the dust settled Daisy felt a surge of warmth burst through her and the connection to her knew brothers and sister was immediate. Daisy did not know their names but she loved them

Will however did not look as peaceful or content, his eyes firmly fixed upon the woman inhuman. Daisy was struck by how young she looked, no older than eighteen, her hair was cut short and messy, dyed a light, almost silver, blue but her fierce eyes were a stark contrast. There was a fire inside her and the connection to Will did not seem to be enough to calm it. 

“You may,” Will said to her simply. The young woman flashed a devilish grin before she suddenly vanished before them. For a moment Daisy stayed where she was, unmoving, waiting for whatever was about to come and then she heard the sickening snap. Daisy wheeled around in time to see one of Malik’s guards drop the floor, his head and neck twisted and facing the wrong way.

Then chaos. The other guard let out a yelp of surprise. Suddenly has gun was being wrenched away from his torso but he kept a hold of it. The guard found the trigger and pulled sending bullets around the room. Daisy reacted by instinct. She set a short and sharp shockwave over her comrades, knocking them all to the ground and out of harm’s way. It was only when she heard the grunt of pain behind her that she realised she had missed someone. Daisy let out a tortured scream and scrambled to the homeless looking man, just as he fell to the floor, the chest of shirt stained with blood that oozed out of his bullet wound. 

“No,” he gasped, a panicked look on his eye as Daisy reached out and grasped his hand. Suddenly Daisy’s mind was consumed by a vision. She saw the inside of a quinjet, alarms buzzing and red lights flashing. Objects floated in front of her, defying gravity. That’s when she saw out the cockpit window, the dark, star filled void of space and the bright blue and green sphere of earth. Then she saw two hands come together, a man and woman, clutching each other tightly, SHIELD emblems on both of their sleeves. The fire, a blaze engulfed the whole seen. Nobody could have survived that.

Daisy’s head swam back to reality, her breathing shallow and her heart pounded.

“What was that?” she asked the man lying before her, bleeding out, “what did I see?”

The man drew in a short rasping breathe and spoke his last word, “death.”

Daisy felt the connection between them end, she felt his hand grow limp and lifeless and she felt the hot tears spill down her face. She did not know this man but now she never would. Anger boiled up within her and Daisy rose to her feet just in time to see the second guard fall lifelessly to floor thanks to the invisible assassin. Only Malik remained, looking frightened and defenceless. Daisy began stepping towards him, eyes fixed.

“No,” Will growled, “This one’s mine.”

For the first time Daisy felt a small pang of resentment towards Will but it quickly dissolved. 

“Please,” Malik begged, stumbling backwards from the first approaching man, “Please, I am your ally, your humble servant.”

Will did not stop, he did not hesitate, “You are no ally to me,” his hand closed around Malik’s throat, pushing him hard against the wall, “You betrayed me when I was your brother. You captured and hurt inhumans because you believe yourself better. You claw for power you do not deserve.”

Malik clawed at Will’s hand, trying to tear his throat free but was overpowered.

“You have no part to play in absolution,” Will snarled. Sand began to erupt from Will’s body and surround Malik, dissolving his flesh hideously until nothing but bone remained. Will closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, absorbing the energy being released before him.

Radcliffe let out a whimper and turned away from the horrific seen. Daisy wanted to join him but couldn’t look away, Will’s power was to alluring. The room fell silent as each of them processed what had just happened. The vision Daisy had just played on her mind and it was clear what it meant. The lost inhuman was right, death was coming. Two SHIELD agents were going to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for how long it's taken for me to update this fic. I have had a major case of writers block with this story (I feel like season 4 might be partially to blame). This chapter is not quite what I wanted it to be but I needed to post something and try and get out of this rut I've been in. Hopefully this will do the trick and the next chapter will be up soon.


End file.
